Is Dolphin Friendly tuna ok to eat?
No. ‘Dolphin Friendly’ labels are virtually meaningless since they adhere to no legal standard or minimum criteria. The term usually refers to the type of fishing gear used but gives no consideration to the broader impacts associated with tuna fishing. This means that while the tuna may have been fished using methods less likely to catch dolphins, it may come from overexploited tuna stocks or have been caught using methods that impact on the marine environment in other ways such as the killing of turtles, sharks and seabirds. If buying tuna, only choose skipjack as all other species range from vulnerable to critically endangered, and make sure that is caught from pole and line or troll fisheries as they have less chance of killing other fish, mammals and birds.
