When I first saw a dolphin-safe label, I admit, I thought it meant the can of tuna I was about to eat did not also contain any bits and pieces of dolphin. I’d probably seen all the reruns of the 60s TV series Flipper and like many teenage girls, had developed a fondness for the marine mammals, so the thought of eating dolphin was beyond appalling. I mean who in their right mind could ever do such a thing! (Teenage girl or otherwise.) It would be like eating horse, or dog. Again, beyond appalling. Beyond.
As I got older and more intune with food labeling—especially where seafood is concerned—I learned more about the terminology and the truth about dolphin-safe labeling. And though there’s much more background than I’m giving you here, the gist of the dolphin-safe label is this: A dolphin-safe label on your can of tuna ensures that the tuna you are about to consume was not caught in a method that hunted, encircled or trapped dolphin in the process of fishing for tuna.
Throughout the ocean, where tuna swim, so do dolphin. Fishermen use speedboats to lure and chase dolphin so they can, by default, find tuna. They then drop purse seines that work like a giant drawstring laundry bag trapping everything that comes in contact with the netting. Hence, they catch their tuna and as a result, also catch dolphin.
April, 1988 filmmaker and biologist Sam LaBudde released a video of dolphins caught in a purse seine intended for tuna.
The extreme brutality shown in the video sparked a viral outcry from consumers, lawmakers, environmental groups, and animal rights advocates alike … all calling for a massive boycott of canned tuna fish. In response, major tuna distributors began labeling their tuna “dolphin-safe.” At the time, however, there were no laws in place to govern or authenticate the claim.
A few years later, in 1990, the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act was created and in accordance with the law, “dolphin-safe” is defined as follows: no dolphins were chased, trapped or killed during the fishing for tuna.
Today, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, close to 1,000 dolphin are killed annually in the pursuit of tuna. Not a great statistic, but considering where we were a few decades ago, its most certainly a step—a huge step at that—in the right direction.
This is part three of my series on tuna. Read more: Rethinking tuna: What’s OK to eat, and what’s not and How to grill tuna. Coming up NEXT WEEK on the blog … how to make smoked salmon pizza with crème fraîche.
I watched a film years ago that some pods of dolphins teach their young to gather around the edge of the net floats so the fishermen can let them out by lowering the float line enough to let them jump over.