News Room
Earth Island's Dolphin Lawsuit: Appeal?
Submitted by International Marine Mammal ProjectOctober 6, 2004 Today, October 6th, the Bush Administration appealed Judge Thelton Henderson's Circuit Court decision on the "Dolphin Safe" tuna label case, "Eii v Evans."
However, this formal motion is, according to Justice Dept. lawyers, an effort to keep their options open, in order to avoid missing the Oct. 11th deadline for filing their appeal. Reportedly, the Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce are still arguing internally about whether or not the Bush Administration should go forward with an appeal.
Earth Island Institute will keep you informed of further events.
On October 20th, the IATTC will be convening in La Jolla for their scheduled meeting of member nations to the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program (AIDCP). At that meeting, the United States delegation will be meeting with Mexico, Venezuela, and other representatives of tuna fishing nations in the Eastern Tropical Pacific tuna fishery for the first time since the judgement by Henderson. We expect there will be some sharp discussions with the fishing nations seeking weakened "Dolphin Safe" standards in the US tuna market.
Background:
In the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean, schools of tuna swim with dolphins. Since 1957, tuna fishermen have used mile-long purse seine nets to catch tuna. One technique used is to chase dolphins (which are air breathing mammals) at the surface, knowing the tuna are swimming below, and catch the dolphins and tuna in the huge nets. More than 7 million dolphins have been killed by this technique.
In 1990, the largest tuna company in the world, Starkist, agreed to abide by Earth Island Institute's international "Dolphin Safe" standards, which specify that no dolphins can be chased and netted in order to catch tuna. These standards were later adopted globally by 90% of the tuna industry and made mandatory in the US by Congress.
In 2002, however, the Bush Administration attempted to weaken the standards, in order to allow Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia and other Latino nations to label their tuna, caught by netting and often killing dolphins, as "Dolphin Safe." On August 11th, in response to a lawsuit, "Earth Island Institute v Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans," Judge Thelton Henderson ruled that the decision by the Bush Administration to weaken the "Dolphin Safe" standards was arbitrary and capricious. The Bush Administration, Henderson found, ignored five years of scientific research developed by the US government's own scientists that showed dolphin populations are still severely harmed by the fishing practice of netting dolphins.
For more information contact:
Mark J. Palmer
(415) 788-3666 x139
(530) 758-6022