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Stiffer laws help our dolphins

by Scarlet Colley - February, 2000

There is good news in the dolphin world : the center for Marine conservation is hailing the improved "dolphin-safe" tuna labeling standard recently adopted by the U.S. Department of Commerce. While the dolphin safe labels have appeared on tuna cans for nearly a decade, the old definition specified that no dolphins were encircled by purse seine nets during the catch and thus allowing fisherman using other methods to label their tuna cans dolphin safe even when dolphins were killed in the process. The new Dolphin safe label will certify that no dolphins were killed or seriously injured in nets where tuna are caught. One of the alternatives to purse seining involved setting nets around tuna and floating objects. Not only did this fishing method sometimes injure or kill dolphins, it was also responsible for the deaths of thousands of sea turtles, sharks, and tens of thousands of bill fish and other smaller fish, some of which are the food source of the dolphins.

The ecosystem was needlessly being sacrifice, with dolphins continuing to die in nets and still the cans were marked dolphin safe. When the dolphin safe label was supported by the American consumer in 1990 it was believed that dolphin were no longer dying in the process. The change in the label means that the tuna we purchase is now both dolphin safe and ecosystem safe.

There is now a strong incentive for nations to band together to eliminate dolphin mortality and more than 12 nations have pledged to conduct research into the health of dolphin populations and more effectively monitor the dolphin safe standards and increase the measures to reduce bycatch and protect the ecosystems. Our dolphins here on South Padre Island have a good life and fairly safe one other than the threat of the shark fisherman in nearby Mexican waters that find the dolphin make good shark bait. We can only hope as more and more people care about dolphins that they will be seen as an asset to an area for ecotourism and to kill them off would be a great waste.

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