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There seems to be some misunderstanding on why dolphin-safe came into existence. From the wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin_safe_label ht
by smackay 11y ago
There seems to be some misunderstanding on why dolphin-safe came into existence. From the wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin_safe_label https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin_safe_label:
"Dolphins are a common by-catch in tuna fisheries, especially in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean, as they commonly swim with schools of yellowfin tuna. The dolphins, who swim closer to the surface than tuna, may be used as an indicator of tuna presence. Labeling was originally intended to discourage fishing boats from netting dolphins with tuna.
The tuna fishery in the Eastern Tropical Pacific is the only fishery that deliberately targets, chases, and nets dolphins, resulting in estimates of 6-7million dolphins dying in tuna nets since the practice was introduced in the late 1950s, the largest directed kill of dolphins on Earth.[9] With the onset of the Dolphin Safe label program, started in the US in 1990 but soon spreading to foreign tuna operations, the deaths of dolphins has decreased considerably, with official counts, based on observer coverage, of around 1,000 dolphins per year.[9] However, research by the US National Marine Fisheries Service has shown that chasing the dolphins causes baby dolphins to fall behind the pod, resulting in a large "cryptic" kill, likely damaging populations of dolphins, as the young starve or are eaten by sharks while the main pod is held by the nets.[10][11] Thus, claims that tuna fishing can continue to chase and net dolphins and not cause harm are not backed by scientific research."
This is not a problem with random by-catch. The issue was the systematic netting of dolphin pods due to their close association with tuna.
- thaumasiotes 11y agoAs I point out in my longer comment lower down, forbidding dolphin tracking causes much worse problems with random bycatch: > If you do the math on this (and you don’t have to because the Environmental Justice Foundation already did), you find that one saved dolphin costs 25,824 small tuna, 382 mahi-mahi, 188 wahoo, 82 yellowtail and other large fish, 27 sharks and rays, 1 billfish, 1,193 triggerfish and other small fish, and 0.06 sea turtles. > You and I can argue about the relative value of dolphins vs. triggerfish all day, but the important take-home message here is that we are protecting animals that are not endangered at the expense of dozens of other species, and some of those other species are endangered.
- smackay 11y agoI completely agree with you but the issue is not so much the problem with dolphins but that an industry can force the removal of labeling that help consumers make (somewhat) informed choices. The silver lining in this cloud is that the removal of the labels means that it is inappropriate for people concerned about dolphins or the marine environment in general to be eating tuna at all, though, sadly, I don't think that is going to happen as a result of this.
- CaptainZapp 11y agoRemember when Monsanto sued a small dairy in Maine, because they wanted to label their milk as hormone free? http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/12/business/monsanto-sues-dairy-in-maine-over-label-s-remarks-on-hormones.html http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/12/business/monsanto-sues-dai... Hormones, btw, which are illegal in the EU.
- user_0001 11y agoIIRC then didn't the US gov / Monsanto take to court the EU for a) making these illegal b) once forced to legalise, labelling it as such I may be getting confused with another case, but I recall some trade episode as such
- mattlutze 11y agoThe issue could also be with advocacy and protection-minded lobbying groups petitioning for actions that would have ultimately caused more harm in their second-order effects than the good in their primary goal.
- reqctomaniac 11y agoWell, the endangered species are endangered either because 1. human involvement 2. natural selection So I don't see that as a valid argument for not protecting dolphins. It's not really their fault. Also, we consistently overprotect one not endangered animal (humans) at the expense of all other species.