Updated 09 01 2008 About Astral Arts Mendocino Hunted And Caged Dolphins In Captivity Dolphin Safe Tuna debate History Learning Center Links Links To Extinction Astral Arts Mendocino E  mail

Dolphin Safe Dolphins aren't safe! What that label means, and the reality of dolphin extinctions, hunts, and a Porpoise With a Purpose! Japan's annual dolphin drives  and hunts of coastal dolphins begins in the fall each year. The presence of peaceful witnesses trying to document the slaughters causes officials and fishermen great concern, for the worldwide condemnation that has always followed. For that reason alone a determined effort is made each season by a small number of experienced people, hoping to eventually stop the drives by showing the world what horrors happen there. Some hunts may have been prevented because witnesses were there, but the fishermen's strategy is to prevent the documenting, or wait until witnesses are gone before beginning the killing. Although this yearly slaughter is officially permitted in Japan, to most of humanity it is a resonating example of wanton, inhumane and cruel human behavior. A muted media and overwhelming social constraints keep much of the real travesty from the Japanese public, but that may be changing. Dolphin Safe Tuna Flipper Seal of Approval from  Earth Trust When we buy a can of tuna in the US, we would assume that it means an absolute guarantee that no dolphins died to produce that tuna, nor were the dolphins seriously harmed or harassed. The way the current US legislation is written, however, and the way the embargoes have been implemented, it is only directly linked to yellowfin tuna purse seine fishing in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. And that tuna provides less than 20% of the tuna coming into the US market. What about the remaining 80% of tuna? All other oceans are assumed to be "safe" for dolphins and as such any kind of tuna from any country other than the embargoed countries can come in to the US for sale. And tuna products other than yellowfin can and do come into the US markets from embargoed yellowfin tuna industries in nations such as Mexico and Colombia. StarKist, the first of the US canners to pursue a "dolphin safe" policy, bought Colombian tuna throughout 1996, even though Colombian yellowfin tuna is embargoed. Japan's Dolphin Drive Fishery