Dolphin-deadly tuna surfaces in Spain

摘要

Last September, Brenda Killian, Executive Director of the Earth Island Institutes (EII's) International Dolphin-Safe Monitoring Program and Dr. Paolo Bray, the program's European coordinator, flew to Vigo, Spain to attend the European Tuna Conference hosted by the Spanish Association of Canned Food Processors (ANFACO). While in Vigo, they inspected tuna procurement documents at Groupo Calvo, SA, Spain's largest tuna company, and discovered that the firm had purchased dolphin-deadly tuna from non-EII-approved suppliers in Venezuela, Mexico and Panama. The dolphin-deadly tuna carried a certificate from the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) claiming that the product was "dolphin-safe." IATTC's certificates are unacceptable to Earth Island, however, since they permit the intentional chasing and setting of nets on dolphins. The IATTC also allows tuna to be labeled "dolphin-safe" so long as no on-board observer claims to have actually seen a dolphin killed or injured in the net Unfortunately, the IATTC certificates continue to mislead tuna companies into thinking that they are purchasing dolphin-safe tuna when they are not. EII's dolphin-safe approval requires that tuna be harvested without chasing or setting ofnets on dolphins.