September 2002

Don't Let the Bush Administration Gut Dolphin Protection!

Help Prevent Weakening of the "Dolphin Safe" Tuna Label!

DEADLINE: End of September!

Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans will be making a critical decision this fall on whether or not to weaken the standards for the "Dolphin Safe" tuna label.

Tuna fishermen in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) target dolphins because tuna and dolphins form mixed schools. Since the late 1950's, the tuna fishery has killed more than 7 million dolphins. However, since 1990 and the advent of the "Dolphin Safe" tuna program, dolphin deaths have decreased by 98% in the ETP.

The "Dolphin Safe" tuna label has saved the lives of thousands of dolphins. The "Dolphin Safe" label now prohibits use of any tuna caught by chasing and netting dolphins by fishermen (e.g. non-encirclement of dolphins).

However, politically connected tuna millionaires in Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela teamed up with free-trade advocates in the Bush Administration to undercut U.S. dolphin protection laws and open U.S. markets to dolphin-deadly tuna, falsely labeled as "Dolphin Safe." Indeed, the key players in the tuna industry in Latin America include the drug cartels of Colombia and Mexico, which use commercial tuna fishing boats to smuggle drugs. The advent of the "Dolphin Safe" tuna program shut off the "tuna/cocaine connection," and the drug cartels want access back into the U.S., hiding behind the tuna
industry.

The Secretary's finding on the "Dolphin Safe" label is supposed to be based on science, but the politics of trade are winning out over the lives of dolphins. The Department of Commerce's own scientific experts have shown that dolphin populations are not recovering in the ETP. Chasing and netting dolphins causes physiological stress, injuries, and separates mothers from dependent calves.

YOU CAN HELP SAVE DOLPHINS! PLEASE IMMEDIATELY:

Write a letter to Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans:

Tell him not to weaken the standards for the "Dolphin Safe" tuna label. Dolphins should not be chased and netted to catch tuna; there are alternative fishing methods that do no harm to dolphins.

Tell him you will not buy tuna caught by chasing and netting dolphins. Tell him scientists have shown that chasing and netting dolphins causes significant adverse impacts on dolphin populations, including preventing their recovery from depletion and separating dependent calves from their mothers.

Tell him that you are concerned that the Latin American drug cartels are using tuna vessels to smuggle cocaine from South America into Mexico. Why would the Bush Administration consider helping an industry associated with illegal drugs?

Ask him to add your letter to the Official Decision Record.

Address:

The Hon. Donald Evans
Secretary of Commerce
US Department of Commerce
14th Street and Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20230


For further information, contact Earth Island Institute, International Marine Mammal Project, 300 Broadway, Suite 28, San Francisco, CA 94133; Voice: (415) 788-3666; Fax: (415) 788-7324; marinemammal@earthisland.org or email VIBEHEALTH.COM

**********************************

"I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord,
make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it." -- Voltaire

Mark J. Palmer
Assistant Director
International Marine Mammal Project
Director
Wildlife Alive
Earth Island Institute
300 Broadway, Suite 28
San Francisco, CA 94133

(415) 788-3666 x139
(415) 788-7324 (fax)

<mpalmer@mother.com>

www.earthisland.org