Contacts: David Phillips (415) 788-3666
Mark J. Palmer (415) 788-3666

UPDATE! The three major U.S. tuna companies -- StarKist, BumbleBee, and Chicken of the Sea -- which together comprise 90% of the U.S. tuna market, have told Commerce Secretary Daley that "...they intend to retain their non-encirclement (of dolphins) policy regardless of the findings that you make..." (Letter February 18, 1999) Contact us for details!

Earth Island Institute and the Dolphin Safe/Fair Trade Campaign (85 environmental and animal welfare organizations) launched a drive to keep the "dolphin safe" label -- found on all canned tuna in the U.S. since 1990 -- honest.

The "dolphin safe" label now prohibits use of any tuna caught by chasing and netting of dolphins by fishermen (e.g. non-encirclement of dolphins). Tuna fishermen in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) target dolphins because tuna and dolphins form mixed schools. Over the past 4 decades, the tuna fishery has killed more than 7 million dolphins. Since 1990 and the advent of the "dolphin safe" tuna program, dolphin deaths have decreased by 97% in the ETP.

However, tuna fishermen in Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela teamed up with free-trade advocates in the Clinton Administration and Congress in 1997 to undercut U.S. dolphin protection laws and open U.S. markets to dolphin-deadly tuna.

In March or April 1999, U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley will be making a finding on whether the federal definition of "dolphin safe" can be weakened. If the Secretary makes a finding that chasing and netting dolphins does NOT cause significant adverse impacts, then the standards by which tuna is judged to be "dolphin safe" will be weakened to allow chase, harassment, netting, injuring, and even killing of dolphins when catching tuna, as long as an on-board observer reports no dolphins killed outright or "seriously injured."

David Phillips, Director of Earth Island Institute's International Marine Mammal Project, called upon Commerce Secretary Daley not to "sign the death warrant for dolphins.

"Scientists, U.S. tuna companies, and the general public know that chasing and netting dolphins is not safe for dolphins," Phillips added. "It never has been safe, and it never will be."

Scientists have determined that dolphin populations in the ETP are not recovering, even with the dramatically lower reported kills of recent years. Phillips called this "ample proof that the chasing and netting of dolphins continues to cause serious harm." Furthermore, he continued, "U.S. consumers have made it clear -- they do not want to buy tuna caught by killing and injuring thousands of dolphins."

Earth Island Institute's campaign to "Keep the Label Honest" includes:

• Grassroots Action: Earth Island, ASPCA, Defenders of Wildlife, Humane Society of the U.S., and the other 85-member organizations of the Dolphin Safe/Fair Trade Campaign are seeking half a million public comments to reach the Secretary of Commerce by March 1999, urging that the strong current standards for the "dolphin safe" label (no encirclement of dolphins by deadly nets) be maintained in law. Through media outreach, mailings, and other efforts, Earth Island is generating tens of thousands of public comments.
• Corporate Cooperation: Earth Island Institute is calling on the three large U.S. tuna companies -- StarKist, Chicken of the Sea, and BumbleBee -- which control 90% of the U.S. tuna market, to maintain their current strong standards for "dolphin safe" tuna (no encirclement of dolphins with nets), regardless of the federal standards status in March 1999.
• Legal Action: Earth Island Institute is also preparing a legal challenge to ensure that the federal "dolphin safe" standards are not weakened and to keep falsely labeled dolphin-deadly tuna from U.S. supermarket shelves.

For further information, contact Earth Island Institute's International Marine Mammal Project, (415) 788-3666 or <marinemammal@earthisland.org>.

VIDEO AVAILABLE: Broadcast quality video footage of the devastating effects of tuna nets on dolphins is available by calling Earth Island (415) 788-3666.