greenlink%gn@cdp.uucp (10/08/89)
Date: October 5, 1989
Via GreenLink:
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By JANET BASS
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- Proposed labels on tuna products disclosing
if the tuna was caught using methods known to kill dolphins would
not help lower the number of dolphin deaths, industry members
told a House panel Wednesday.
The industry representatives also said the proposed regulations
would destroy the tuna industry.
The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and several amendments
passed last year have worked to reduce the number of dolphins
killed in the eastern tropical Pacific in purse seine netting or
drift gill netting by yellowfin tuna fishermen.
According to government figures, about 370,000 dolphins were
killed annually in U.S. nets before the act was imposed. In 1988,
the number dropped to 19,712. The foreign fleet of tuna fishermen
killed 65,169 dolphins in 1988, much higher than in years past.
Legislation by Rep. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., would require all
domestic and foreign-caught tuna products to bear the following
label if the tuna was captured in a catch with dolphin: "The tuna
in this product has been captured with technologies that are
known to kill dolphins."
All other tuna products would bear the statement: "Dolphin
Safe."
"This bill would not ban the fishing methods which result in
dolphin deaths," Boxer told a House Merchant Marine and Fisheries
subcommittee. "It would simply allow the free marketplace to
influence environmental policy."
But tuna industry members testified the proposed labels
represent unfair governmental intrusion.
"We believe that the canned tuna economy of this nation would be
substantially and permanently damaged, if not completely
destroyed," said August Felando, president of the American
Tunaboat Association.
David Burney, general counsel of the U.S. Tuna Foundation, said
the measure "will not contribute to lowering the incidental take
of porpoise. They will, however, support the boycott efforts of
certain protectionist groups," he said.
The tuna industry received support from an administration
official, who said it would be "impossible" to determine whether
tuna that is subsequently canned was caught with the particular
netting methods.
"The only way to verify such a catch would be to require
expensive and burdensome tracking and separation measures before
canning," said James Douglas, deputy assistant administrator for
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
He said five nations plus the United States fish for tuna in the
eastern tropical Pacific, with about 60 percent of the yellowfin
catch -- used in light meat canned tuna -- taken with dolphins.
"The designation of separate holds for dolphin-caught tuna is
not practical," he said in opposing the bill.
Boxer said the additional cost would amount to about a penny per
can of tuna.
Environmentalists told the subcommittee consumers have the right
to know how the fish is caught and the consequences to dolphins.
"What is clear to us is that without rules, it will be virtually
impossile for the consumer to make an informed choice as to how
tuna on the shelf was caught," said Vance Hughes, representing
more than two dozen environmental groups.
Boxer said if, in fact, the number of dolphin deaths are being
reduced, then the industry has little to worry about, since the
vast majority of tuna products would be labeled "Dolphin Safe."
But some of her colleagues were concerned the labels take a
legitimate issue of dolphin deaths too far.
"Where do we stop?" asked Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska. "Once we go
down this road, there's no stopping."
Rep. Claudine Schneider, R-R.I., said, "We have to make sure we
don't drive the U.S. tuna fishing industry out of business."
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