Dolphin Safe Tuna
Tuna fishermen off the Pacific coast have been using dolphins in order to catch
tuna. What occurs is fishermen set nets on specific dolphins, attempting to catch
yellowfin tuna, which is found living in the same area as the dolphins. After
trapping the dolphins, the fishermen simply pull them up onto the boat with the
tuna and let them die. This procedure has killed nearly seven million dolphins
since the 1950s.
The extremely high death rate of dolphins caused the United States’
Congress to amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act during the 1980s in order
to suggest different ways of catching tuna. In 1990, the famous “dolphin-safe
tuna” labeling was created. Throughout the early 1990s America adopted new
dolphin protection plans which made necessary that all tuna being imported here
must follow the same guidelines as the United States in order to put an end to the
harassment of dolphins.
As these new laws were helping the dolphin population tremendously, the
tuna-fishing businesses from other countries were losing buyers. In 1990, Mexico
was embargoes from tuna shipment due to their ways in catching tuna. The
soon-to-be World Trade Organization (WTO) demanded that the embargo be
stopped, because according to the law, a country may not embargo a supply
unless the supply itself is dangerous. In other words, if the tuna was dangerous
they could embargo it, but if its catching were killing millions of dolphins, an
embargo could not be made.
Mexico and other Latin countries demanded that the Marine Mammal
Protection Act be lightened so that these countries could sell their tuna under the
label of “dolphin safe.” After threats from the WTO, President Clinton’s’
administrators met with officers from Mexico in order to discuss the problem. A
deal was made, called the Panama Declaration, which would put a limit on the
number of dolphins a boat could catch, and lower the definition of “dolphin-safe”
in order to allow the harming and catching of dolphins.
Congress has been attempting to pass this Act, which has been called the
“Dolphin Death Act” from observers. The Act would also claim that the tuna could
be dolphin safe even if it did encircle dolphins just as long as observers from the
boat claim that no dolphins were harmed or killed. The Act has been passed by
the House or Representatives, but it was stopped before getting to the Senate.
Even though the act has not made too much progress so far, it is believed that it
will be passed in the near future.
I believe this new Act trying to be passed is absolutely ridiculous.
In the past twenty years a large amount of bottlenose dolphin have been killed due to the tuna fishery. In the Eastern Pacific swim large schools of tuna, these shoals tend to be under herds of dolphins, for some unexplained reason. Because of this, fishermen can easily find schools of tuna. The tuna are being caught under purse seine nets, which encircles the shoals of tuna and then is pulled back on board the fishing vessel, catching both tuna and dolphin. Initially the mortality rate was 500,000 each year for dolphins alone. Although some efforts are made to encourage the dolphins to leave the net by backing down part of the net, which allows the dolphins to escape, there are still a large number of mortalities (Bryant). On the other hand, in the last few years there has been dramatic progress in stopping the fishing industries from using purse sine nets. It has been found that dolphins are in immediate danger of extinction if these fishing techniques don’t stop.
The quest to gain international agreement on ethical and legal norms for regulation of whaling has had a long and troubled history. The modern phase of global concern over whaling ethics and conservationist management originated in 1946, when the International Convention on Regulation of Whaling was signed. Thus the International Whaling Commission was created. The International Whaling Commission was designed to control and mandate the whaling industry. From it’s beginning as simply a whalers club with scientific guidance, to the current day conservationist body; the IWC has undergone many revisions and transformations since the start. In 1982 the IWC voted to implement a “pause” on commercial whaling (which is still in effect today). Which major whaling nations, Japan, Norway, Peru, and the Soviet Union (later replaced by Russia) lodged formal objections, due to the fact that the moratorium was not based on advice from the Scientific Committee. One major disappointment of this regulation was due the fact that the moratorium only applies to commercial whaling. Thus, whaling under scientific-research and aboriginal-subsistence is still allowed. Japan and other countries have continued their hunt in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary under the “scientific research” loophole. However, environmental activist groups openly dispute the claims and continue their rally to end the whaling industry for good.
... further pain to the whale then necessary. They have a respect for the whale and what the whale does for them. They should be allowed to continue in their hunting of the whale.
This animal is a very intelligent individual. Bottle-nosed dolphins are commonly found in zoos or marine parks because of their capability to perform tricks. They can jump through hoops 5 meters high because of their incredibly powerful tail. As well as jumping, Bottle-nosed dolphins can raise themselves upright out of the water and travel backwards, by threshing their tails.
...2009): 8-9. United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. .
The United Nations. Resolution 36/103 of the UN General Assembly (1981). N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
U.S. House of Representitives. Asian Carp Prevention and Conrol Act. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, July 2006.
Is a dolphin a person? Most people would automatically dismiss the question, but in reality, this question can be discussed on a very complex level revealing that the definition of a person is not so black and white. Mary Midgley sets the stage to her narrative by telling the story of a specific court case that she uses as a reference on many occasions. In May of 1977, two men set free two dolphins who were used by the University of Hawaii’s Institute of Marine Biology for experimentation. Kenneth Le Vasseur, one of the men who was standing trial, told how these dolphins were suffering through unfair conditions such as diminishing food rations, isolation from other dolphins, and loss of toys. Based on this information, Le Vasseur and his counsel tried to use the “choice of evils defense” which states that an act, which would typically be considered unacceptable, would be allowed if it would lead to an avoidance of a greater evil or crime against “another”. This defense was rejected on the grounds that the judge declared that a dolphin was not considered to be “another” and instead it should be considered property. Today in our society, it is a common perception that a person or “another” indicates that you must be a human being. Midgley investigates this perception as well as the question of how do we classify what is and what is not a person as well as the moral implications that comes with the title.
...ecting these animals. Despite this, we as human beings need to proceed to defend them from exploitation. First off, there must be a permanent ban on all commercial whaling and the best to police this ban would be the IWC. This would require the comeback of IWC under democratic conservation and legitimate; non-lethal scientific research. The sanctuaries can not only provide all these benefits but can also offer eco-control. Secondly, Japan must completely end their whale hunts in the Southern and North Pacific waters. To help increase whale populations, sanctuaries must be established; these would allow whales to feed, breed, and continue their recovery. Sanctuaries would also offer opportunities to benefits both the whale population, and American economy; such as whale watching. This would generate US revenue worldwide each year, making it worth more than whaling.
...legal fishing, caught in fishing nets, collisions with boats and or propellers, and marine pollution. The subsequent captivity of dolphins in research and aquarium facilities contributes to their deaths.
... So japans whaling program needs to be stopped before there is more damage done to the population. In addition the population of dolphins living near japan are expected to reach 500 in number by 2017 if keeps up its pace at there whaling
States are left with a wide discretion, limited only by prohibitive rules and wherein no such prohibitive rules exist, States have the freedom to adopt the principles that it regards as best and most suitable. The ICJ effectively held that acts or omissions that are not prohibited under international law are
Dolphins have been charming creatures to human for centuries. However, this popularity sometimes directly leads to cruel and barbaric ways to keep them in captivity. This condition change dolphins a lot. Although they are the same animals, there exist many differences in habits, living conditions and human effects on the dolphins in the wild and in SeaWorld, which will be illustrated as follows.
The rule of law requires compliance by the state with its obligations in International law.
These dolphins are the type of dolphins common people would see at the Zoo or on a T.V. programed performance. Like the Common Dolphins, the Atlantic Bottle-Nosed Dolphins are highly skillful echolocators. They can produce a range of sounds, like a click, using it to analyze any object around them in the ocean (Whitfield 114). According to Whitfield on page 114, they can produce up to 100 clicks a second. They will use these clicks to also find food. They mainly eat Bottom-dwelling fish in inshore waters or surface swimming fish. They can do many other objects with their echolocation finder and using their