Is Dolphin Safe Tuna Really Safe?

Is dolphin safe tuna really safe to dolphins? It seemed like common sense that it is however that isn’t necessarily true. According the US Consumers Union, there is no guarantee that dolphins have not been harmed despite the labels on the can. This is because there is no universal and independent verification of the dolphin friendly claims, by observers, for example, which board fishing boats or make surprise visits to canneries to inspect the captains' logs.

Dolphins are often found swimming above schools of yellow fin tuna. Knowing this, fishing fleets look for dolphins in order to trap tuna. The fishing fleets then use encircling nets to catch the dolphins which in turn would catch all the tuna. Since the 1990’s the government prohibited companies from using the “Dolphin Safe” label on fishing fleets that used the encircling nets to catch tuna. However, in 2002 it was determined that this was no longer harmful to the dolphin population as a whole. This allowed fishing fleets to again use encircling nets and get away with the “Dolphin Safe” label.

In 2008, Greenpeace released a report that noted that “Dolphin safe” labels can make people believe that tuna with the label is overall environmentally friendly. However other species such as sharks and albatross still suffer from tuna fishing. Also the hunt itself still has an impact on the environment. So I guess sometimes labels have to be taken with a grain of salt.