Is “Dolphin-safe” tuna protecting dolphins?
Dolphin-safe tuna is caught without encircling dolphins. Dolphins may die in different types of nets outside the ETP to provide tuna labeled dolphin-safe. Alternative fishing practices in the ETP include encircling logs and other floating objects, or encircling free swimming schools of tuna. Unfortunately these practices kill many other species – all thrown away dead – including large numbers of shark, wahoo, billfish, endangered sea turtles, dorado, and immature yellowfin tuna. All of these species, along with dolphins and many other creatures, make up the ecosystem of the ETP. Tuna labeled “dolphin-safe” is not ecosystem-safe! If a practice is not safe for the ecosystem, of which dolphins are a part, then it is not safe for dolphins. Is there a way to protect dolphins and their ecosystem? Protecting dolphins and their ecosystem required negotiations between nations fishing in the ETP, the tuna industry, and concerned environmental organizations. The U.S. wanted to reward foreign nati
