Government Tells Tuna Fleet to Stop Killing Dolphins

The federal government announced a ban Tuesday on the killing of dolphins by tuna fishermen for the remainder of 1986 to ensure that the number of the marine animals killed does not exceed the government’s annual limit.

The ban, which goes into effect Tuesday, could turn out to be another blow to some West Coast tuna fishermen, who are suffering from stiff foreign competition and depressed tuna prices. The low prices have forced fishermen to increase production to survive.

The order would affect about 32 tuna vessels based in San Diego, the home of this country’s largest tuna fleet. August Felando, president of the American Tunaboat Assn., said that besides increased competition from foreign fishermen and canneries, fishermen have had to increase their production to make up for a 40% drop in the price of yellowfin tuna since 1981.

“We’re just going to have to wait and see if vessels already out to sea will come in and stay at port, or try to make another trip out there,” Felando said. “Clearly, there will be a sharp reduction in the amount of yellowfin that will be landed by the U.S. fleet.”

For reasons still unknown to scientists, dolphins tend to swim directly above schools of yellowfin tuna. Thus the easiest way for fishermen to find the tuna is to follow the dolphins. But the air-breathing animals drown when they become entangled in the giant nets used to catch tuna.

In 1976, the government established quotas under the Marine Mammal Protection Act on the number of dolphins that fishermen could kill. Since 1980, the quota has remained at 20,500 annually.

As of Oct. 5, an estimated 20,352 dolphins had been killed this year by fishermen, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service, the branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that enforces the quota. The agency said it expects fishermen to meet or exceed the quota by next week.

By comparison, an estimated 19,000 dolphins were killed in 1985 and 17,700 were killed in 1984, the fisheries service reported.

The ban will remain in effect until Jan. 1 and will prohibit fishermen from netting yellowfin tuna by fishing “on” dolphins, according to Gary Smith, deputy regional director of the fisheries service in Los Angeles. Fishermen will be allowed to net yellowfin by other means, providing a federal observer is aboard the vessel.

The government’s ban would apply to a vast area of the eastern Pacific Ocean stretching from San Diego to Chile, Smith said. Fishermen could be fined $25,000 for violating the order, he said.

Foreign vessels, which make up most of the world’s tuna fleet, also must comply with the order or they will not be allowed to sell yellowfin in the United States, Smith said.

Smith said there has been a greater abundance of yellowfin this year. Hence, fishermen have accidentally killed a greater number of dolphins as they have gone after the fish, a premium white meat tuna that fetches higher prices from processors than some other types of tuna.

“Our numbers indicate that the average catch of yellowfin per vessel has almost doubled this year over last,” Smith said. “Generally, they were getting 10 or 12 tons per set (That is, each time the nets are set.) last year, but it is up to 22 to 26 tons. That is unusually high.”

Manuel Silva, an operator of four tuna boats, predicted that the government’s order could have a “drastic affect” on some boat owners because it will eliminate at least one trip to sea. A typical trips lasts about 40 days this year.

Silva said that the price of tuna is so low that “we need the volume, and without the volume, you just don’t cut it.”

Frank Alverson, vice president for Living Marine Resources Inc., a San Diego consulting firm that has worked with the tuna boat association to determine ways to decrease the number of dolphins accidentally killed, predicted that the fleet could lose $12 million in yellowfin sales.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if (the ban) pushes someone’s head under the water,” Alverson said. “We are losing 71 days out of the year, which is a pretty big hunk.”

Although Felando said he does not dispute the fisheries service method of determining dolphin kills by the tuna fleet, he said he believes this year’s kill total is skewed because of the low number of government observers placed aboard vessels during a two-month period last spring.

From mid-April to mid-June, an observer boarded about one of every four fishing vessels as it went to sea, determining that nine dolphins were killed by each boat on each day it was at sea, according to the tuna boat association. When the number of observers was increased to include 63% of the trips made by vessels, the kill ratio was determined to be about four per day per vessel, the association said.

Despite a request from the fishermen to recompute the figures, the fisheries service officials say they believe their figures are accurate. Although the service acknowledged that the number of observers dropped last spring, observers, on the average, boarded one of every three vessels as it went to sea, the agency said.