Dolphin Safe

Between 1959 and1991, in just thirty years it is estimated that 7,000,000 dolphins were killed by careless tuna fishermen (The Tuna/Dolphin Controversy). Fishermen who were fishing with techniques that they could have altered in order to keep any dolphins from harm. Unsafe tuna fishing methods are totally unnecessary and unacceptable. Why must we kill these innocent and beautiful creatures if we do not have to? If we could win a war without a single death would we choose to die anyways? Dolphins are very smart. They have an exceptionally large brain, and it is said that dolphins intelligence can be roughly compared to that of a two-year-old human. They are widely believed to have a system of communication by way of the various chirps and whistling noises they make. It is even said that dolphins have a playful sense of humor marked by a game they play with a smaller animal by placing food in front of it and snatching it away when the animal attempts to eat it (Dolphin). Is it so important to maximize our profits that we run the dangerous risk of totally wiping out one of the most intelligent marine mammals in the entire ocean? Consequently, we will assess why dolphin safe policies in the U.S. should be far more strict than they really are because it is obvious that killing dolphins is unethical, it is a definite form of animal cruelty, and there are many other alternative ways to catching tuna.

To begin with, we will look at some background information on how tuna fishermen have treated dolphins in the past. The truth is that they have treated dolphins with extreme cruelty. As was stated previously over 7,000,000 dolphins were slaughtered unnecessarily in the thirty-two year span from 1959 to1991. That comes out to about 218,750 unnecessary dolphin deaths each year which is an average of about 599 deaths per day. This treatment however was not just used in the United States of America but also in many other countries that practice absolutely no form of dolphin safe fishing laws (Dolphin Safe Tuna). According to the Institute of Marine Science, "It is an international issue requiring international attention." This is a fact that people all around the world must learn to accept. If these dolphin deaths were in anyway necessary due to lack of tuna catching techniques this might be somewhat acceptable. However, in this case the deaths of these precious animals can be prevented but is not being prevented due to the laziness and carelessness of fishermen. Nowadays even the few countries that do have dolphin safe laws are not enforcing them properly and are still allowing dolphins to be slaughtered and harassed each and everyday. The fisherman in these places are using driftnets, which can be up to a mile long and trap innocent dolphins. These nets are usually lowered down to a hundred yards deep under the ocean's surface. Many adult dolphins are able to jump over the sides of the nets. This doesn't help them however because, being the social creatures they are, these dolphins refuse to abandon their you and remain in the nets (Dolphin Safe Tuna). Staying in the nets causes the animals to be unable to surface for air, and, being mammals, they drown shortly after being captured. These nets have also been widely known to capture other animals such as seals, sharks, sea turtles, manatees, squids, and sometimes even sea birds (The Tuna/Dolphin Controversy). A few of these animals, however, are able to survive because unlike dolphins they are able to receive oxygen while underwater. The main technique these unsafe fishermen use is referred to as 'fishing on dolphin'. Dolphins sometimes will swim above schools of tuna for reasons scientists have been unable to determine up to this point (Dolphin). In 'fishing on dolphin' tuna fishermen first locate dolphins and if they are lucky they will find a large school of tuna swimming beneath them.

Now that the unethical aspects of killing dolphins while fishing for tuna have been exposed. This is why tuna fishermen's techniques are a definite form of animal cruelty. It is obvious that killing an animal with no intentions of using it for food or any means otherwise is wrong. Dolphins are what they call a non-target species which is a species of animal that are not meant to be killed but due to certain circumstances, end up in danger. In some places even though an effort is being made for dolphins not to be killed they are still being treated terrible one of these places is the United States of America. President Bush has made it to where the dolphin safe laws in America are very weak. These weakened laws still allow these innocent creatures to be chased around, harassed, and at times even injured (Jan. 03 Dolphin Safe Labels in Danger). Scientists have proven that even though having all of this done to them is not killing the dolphins it is a good possibility that the stress which it has placed upon them will cause them to die shortly thereafter anyways. In other countries weakened dolphin safe laws are still allowing a certain number of these animals to be killed. How can one justify putting a dolphin safe label on a can of tuna when in the process of that can being produced there were, in fact, dolphins killed? Mexico is one of the main tuna suppliers to the United States. They are also a country which does not practice dolphin safe methods of tuna fishing. The Bush administration is pushing for laws that will allow tuna shipped from Mexico to have dolphin safe labels placed upon it. One San Francisco based biologist by the name of Sam Lebudde was quoted saying this on the subject, "They want to allow Mexico to put dolphin-safe labels on their tuna, even though it was caught by chasing, capturing and killing dolphins, and market it in this country as dolphin-safe. It's a complete lie and a complete sham. Mexico