The label on the can may say dolphin-safe but tuna fishermen are still allowed to chase, harass, net, injure and kill dolphin when catching tuna as long as the official on-board observer on a tuna boat does not SEE dolphin seriously injured or killed. Consequently, too many dolphin are injured and die during the chase and tuna netting process but these may never be counted as losses of life by the on-board observers on tuna boats who happen not to have seen anything as most of the action goes on all underwater.
The stress caused by chasing and the accidental netting of dolphin may cause harm to a dolphin’s health and reproductive systems as dolphin populations are still not recovering as well as expected when dolphin-safe tuna practices were federally mandated in 1990.
The huge, encircling, miles and miles of drift nets used to catch tuna may also may catch and kill 100,000 dolphins a year. However, a law was passed banning the use of drift nets in commercial fishing operations, but the law cannot always be enforced in international waters.
All a tuna catching operation has to do is police itself by posting so-called observers on board their tuna boats to make sure dolphins do not get killed or injured in the huge nets that they ARE allowed to use. There is no guarantee that dolphins are not still killed during tuna catching operations. Consequently, critics charge a dolphin-safe tuna label may be nothing more than lip service to please unsuspecting consumers.
SUPPLEMENTAL SOURCE: ANIMAL PROTECTION INSTITUTE JULY 1999 & ACTIONLINE MAGAZINE FALL 2001