New Agreement is Bad for Tuna, Bad for Dolphins
by Mark Palmer (International Marine Mammal Project)

Earth Island Institute has denounced the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission's (IATTC) new International Dolphin Conservation Program Agreement as an "unenforceable" deal that would be deadly to dolphins.

"This new agreement allows tuna-fishing nations to kill twice the number of dolphins annually that were killed in 1996 - in perpetuity," states David Phillips, director of Earth Island Institute's International Marine Mammal Project. "There is no attempt to reduce dolphin deaths, in direct contravention of previously stated international goals and the US Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

"The Agreement does nothing to reduce the by-catch of nontarget fish species such as sharks, billfish, and juvenile tuna," Phillips continued. Under the agreement, tuna captains found guilty of intimidation international observers "would continue to get dolphin kill quotas without even a slap on the wrist, if their government fisheries bureaucracy chooses." Phillips noted that in the entire history of the IATTC, "no nation has ever suspended a captain or imposed meaningful fines on fishing vessels that violate international agreements to protect dolphins."

The IATTC agreement is reminiscent of unenforceable "side-agreements" made by the US, Mexico and Canada in an attempt to address environmental issues in the wake of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Earth Island Institute is calling upon all governments to reject the agreement and re-open negotiations for a new, "legally binding agreement" that protects dolphins and the marine environment.

The IATTC negotiations - which were held on February 7 in La Jolla, California - included representatives from the US, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. The final accord will be open for signature by participating nations on May 15, 1998.

Earth Island Institute and the Humane Society of the US observers who attended the La Jolla meeting report that the agreement falls far short of both MMPA regulations and international laws designed to ensure reduced mortality of dolphins ("to levels approaching zero") and decreased by-catch.

The new accord would set the overall dolphin mortality limit at 5,000 dolphins annually - double the 1996 observed kill of 2,574 dolphins. Although it is well-known that fishing in a "dolphin safe" manner causes a large "by-catch" of non-target species - including juvenile tuna and sharks - the IATTC deal takes no action whatsoever to reduce problem of by-catch.

The MMPA was amended in 1997 to allow the US to lift embargoes against "dolphin-deadly" tuna from Mexico and other nations that still set nets on dolphins. But this waiver only applies if a "binding legal agreement" has been reached to protect dolphins on an international level.

"This new agreement is nothing more than a sham," charged Phillips. "Mexico and the US want to continue the destructive practice of setting tuna nets on dolphins, killing thousands of dolphins in the process. By setting up a side-agreement that justifies killing of dolphins but provides no teeth or provisions to eliminate the kill, Mexico and the US can claim they are saving dolphins while letting the killing continue."

The number of dolphins killed in the Eastern Tropical Pacific tuna fishery is expected to show an increase for 1997 - the first rise in deaths since US tuna companies signed Earth Island's 1990 pledge to buy only tuna caught without chasing or netting dolphins.

What You Can Do: Contact President Bill Clinton [1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NE, Washington, DC 20500] and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright [2201 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20] Ask them to reject the International Dolphin Conservation Program Agreement, urge them to maintain the embargo against dolphin-deadly tuna and tell them that you will not buy such tuna.

Mark J. Palmer is a Program Associate with the International Marine Mammal Project and the director of Wildlife Alive, an EII project.