Saving Dolphins: The European Campaign

by Mark Berman
International Marine Mammal Project

During the week of February 28, I joined Mark Palmer and Paolo Bray (IMMP's European Coordinator for the tuna monitoring program) for a ten-day series of meetings with European tuna importers. The meetings, which ranged from London to Hamburg, brought us face-to-face with several large European importers, including Sir Walter Anzer of the Walter Anzer Consultancy, which represents major British tuna importers.

We reviewed the history of Britain's dolphin-safe monitoring effort and acknowledged how important this program is now that the US has enacted a misleading and lethal change to dolphin-safe tuna labeling laws. (Implementation of this labeling change is currently tied up by a legal challenge being led by Earth Island.)

We thank the British importers for their participation in this global conservation effort and agreed that we had made good progress. Their continued support of the monitoring process will be of the utmost importance since Mexico and Venezuela (with funding from their respective governments) will step up efforts to get their dolphin-deadly tuna into British markets. IMMP remains hopeful that our legal challenges before US courts and the Court of International Trade will continue to keep uncertified Mexican and Venezuelan tuna out of the US. This will, however, put added pressure on European importers who will be called on to open their markets to this dolphin-deadly tuna.

The UK meetings allowed us to clear up several issues. Paolo Bray, for example, was able to dispel a persistent rumor was that Mexican tuna was being imported into Italy. By referring to his monitoring efforts, he clearly established that no uncertified tuna had been shipped through Italian ports.

The meetings were successful. The UK importers promised to remain totally committed to IMMP's dolphin-safe monitoring program. They have vowed that no dolphin-deadly tuna will be imported into Britain.

The next round of meetings took me to Germany and the Hamburg headquarters of WarenVerein. In Hamburg, I joined forces with Rollo Gebhard, Ulrich Karlowski, and Ulrike Kirsch, of the German Dolphin Conservation Society (GDCS) for conferences with several of Germany's largest tuna importers. The GDCS has been instrumental in working with the importers to guarantee that only IMMP-certified dolphin-safe tuna is imported into Germany.

WarenVerein (WV) is Germany's largest association of canned-food importers. WV's continued support is extremely important and has remained strong since IMMP's Director Emeritus Brenda Killian signed agreements with WV and the GDCS in 1992.

WV members remain totally committed to buying only dolphin-safe tuna approved by Earth Island Institute. Any broker or processor found guilty of cheating or laundering dolphin-deadly tuna will have its WV contracts voided immediately. Meanwhile, IMMP's family of worldwide monitors continues to work diligently to ensure that there are no cracks in the system.

The following individuals deserve special mention for their hospitality and help in organizing the meetings: Sir Walter Anzer, WV President Gerhard Heyer and Mrs. Sigrid Schnelle and Mrs. Doris Eggert-Adler of WarenVerein.

Mark Berman is Assistant Director of Earth Island's International Marine Mammal Project, 300 Broadway #28, San Francisco CA 94133 USA, (415) 788-3666 ext. 146, fax (415) 788-7324.