CONOPS Elements

1
Tuna Fishing in the Eastern Tropical Pacific
KEVIN H. TLOCZYNSKI 3 October 2005
(Photograph from the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration)
2
Overview

• Eastern Topical Pacific Fishery
• Marine Mammal Protection Act
• The La Jolla Agreement/Panama Declaration
• Agreement on the International Conservation
  Program
  
• Commerce Department Argument
• Conservation Argument
• The Battleground
• Current Status

3
Eastern Tropical Pacific Fishery

• ETP West Coast of Mexico and Central America
• Late 1950s discovery by ETP fishermen1
• Large Yellow Fin Tuna (Thunnus albacares)
  concentrate under pod of several dolphin species
  (Stenella attenuata, S. longirostris, Delphinus
  delphis)
• Primary Fishing Method
• purse-seine nets around
• entire schools of Tuna
• Devastating to Dolphin
• populations in the ETP2

(Photograph from the Southwest Fisheries Science
Center)
4
Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972

• MMPA
• Prohibits take of marine mammals and the
  importation of marine mammals
  
• Take Harass, capture, kill or attempt to
  harass, capture, kill
  
• 16 USC 1362 (13)
• Harrass has potential to injure marine
  mammals, or cause disruption of behavioral
  patterns, including, but not limited to,
  migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding,
  or sheltering 16 USC 1362 (18)(A)
• Prohibited importation of Tuna caught in the ETP
  with purse-seine nets

5
The Panama Declaration

• The La Jolla Agreement (1992)
• ETP fishing countries voluntarily agreed to
  restrictions
  
• Increased observer coverage
• Skipper review panels
• 7 year schedule of decreasing dolphin quotas on a
  per boat basis
  
• The Declaration of Panama (1995)
• Participants Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica,
  Ecuador, France, Honduras, Mexico, Panama and
  Spain
  
• Included restrictions in the La Jolla Agreement
• Observers on every boat over 400 tons
• Called on US to ease dolphin-safe labeling
  requirements for participatory nations (IDCPA
  1997)
  
• Considered dolphin-safe if no dolphins observed
  killed or injured on that set

6
International Dolphin Conservation Program

• International Dolphin Conservation Act (1997)
• Amended MMPA to allow importation of Tuna from
  the ETP caught within provisions of the
  Declaration of Panama
  
• Allowed US vessels to use purse-seine nets set on
  dolphins
  
• Agreement on the International Dolphin
  Conservation Program (1999)
  
• Legally binding agreement for the ETP
• Objectives
• Reduce incidental dolphin mortality
• Set annual limits
• Seek alternative tuna fishing methods not
  involving dolphins
  
• Ensure long term sustainability of the ETP
  ecosystem
  
• Ratified by Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador,
  Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama,
  Peru, United States, Vanuatu, and Venezuela
  

7
Commerce Department Argument

• Binding international agreement is the key to
  marine ecosystem and dolphin protection in the
  ETP1
  
• Commerce Department Leadership believes that IDCP
  member states will not comply with the dolphin
  protection provisions in the AIDCP without the
  opening of US markets to ETP tuna3
• Mexico at risk of leaving IDCP entirely without
  opening of market
  
• Administration found Southwest Fisheries Science
  Center dolphin population study not conclusive
  with no significant adverse impact of ETP
  fishing3

8
Conservation Argument
(Figures from the Southwest Fisheries Center The
Tuna-Dolphin Issue)

• Dolphin populations have not recovered, despite
  reduction in number of dolphins killed through
  fishing

9
Recovery Hypothesis

• The Southwest Fisheries Science Center
  hypothesized lack of recovery could be due to
  
• Effects of repeated chase and encirclement
• Unreported or unobserved mortality, or ecosystem
  changes
  
• Effects of dolphin pod disruption
• Lag in recovery

10
The Battleground

• Dolphin-Safe Tuna Declaration
• 90-day moratorium (10 Jan 2003)
• Commerce Department Secretary
• Environmental groups threatened temporary
  restraining order against government rule change
  
• The Court Ruling (9 Aug 2004)
• The Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act,
  16 U.S.C. 1385(h)(2) governs labeling of
  dolphin-safe tuna
  
• ETP tuna may be labeled dolphin-safe if no tuna
  were caught during that trip by purse-seine nets
  deployed to intentionally encircle dolphins and
  no dolphins were killed or seriously injured5

11
Current Status

• Tuna caught by purse-seine nets in the ETP may be
  imported to the US under the MMPA
  
• Tuna cannot be labeled as dolphin-safe if nets
  were intentionally deployed on dolphins
  
• Major US tuna processors will not sell tuna
  without dolphin-safe label
  

12
Questions
?
13
References

• NOAA Office of Protected Resources. Agreement on
  the International Dolphin Conservation Program.
  (http//www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/international/aidcp.h
  tm) 3 Oct 2005
• Southwest Fisheries Science Center. The Tuna
  Dolphin Issue. (http//swfsc.nmfs.noaa.gov/PRD/PRO
  GRAMS/DolphinStock/tdissue.html) 3 Oct 2005
  
• updated from W. F. Perrin, B. Würsig and J. G.
  M. Thewissen, eds. Encyclopedia of Marine
  Mammals. Academic Press, San Diego, California.,
  p.1269-1273 (2002)
• "Rule weakening definition of 'dolphin safe' is
  delayed," NYT, 9 January 2003.
  
• Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act, 16
  U.S.C. 1385(h)(2)
  
• NOAA Fisheries. International Dolphin
  Conservation Program Act (IDCPA) Final Rule (13
  Sep 2004)