New Battle Coming Up In Congress Over ‘Dolphin Safe’ Label

Americans worried about Flipper and his kin have drawn comfort from the “dolphin safe” label on tuna cans since 1990. Those labels may soon have new meaning, and environmentalists are split.

Legislation moving through Congress would again let the valuable yellowfin tuna be caught using methods that locate the mature fish by chasing the dolphins that swim with them, encircling all in mile-long nets.

The “dolphin safe” label would be allowed only for catches in which the observer can certify no dolphins were killed or seriously harmed - a restriction that backers say is tighter than the current one.

Opponents argue the “dolphin safe” label, showing the tuna were caught without hurting the charming sea mammals, should continue to forbid tuna caught by chasing and encircling dolphins. Although dolphins may not be killed in such large numbers, opponents say the practice is cruel and stressful, separates dolphin mothers from their offspring, and keeps populations from thriving.

The Clinton administration backs the proposal, which is being debated in Congress as Americans line up at theaters for “Flipper,” after snapping up two recent movies about Willy the orca, another marine mammal.

Administration officials say an agreement with Latin American countries last fall will protect dolphins and other sea life in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

A number of environmentalist groups, including Greenpeace, support that argument. Others, including the Sierra Club, call the proposal a giant step backward.

“The whole thing is a scam being put over on us by the Mexican government and the Venezuelan government that want access back into the U.S. market for tuna that is not dolphin-safe,” said Dave Phillips, executive director of the Earth Island Institute, a San Francisco-based environmental group fighting the measure.

Without the new legislation, backers say, international agreements to protect the dolphin would collapse. Foreign fleets would go back to killing dolphins and selling to countries that have no rules.

Also, restrictions that shield dolphins encourage fishing methods that kill young tuna, sharks, sea turtles, billfish and other important marine life.

“The issue really has gotten more complex than it used to be,” said Nina Young, marine mammal specialist at the Center for Marine Conservation.