P.M. BRIEFING : Boycott Urged of Drift-Net Tuna

Two lawmakers and the environmental group Greenpeace called today for a nationwide consumer boycott of canned tuna imported from countries whose fishing fleets use drift nets.

“I have yet to meet an American family that thinks it is a good idea to strangle dolphins and other animals in drift nets,” Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.) said in urging the boycott.

DeFazio and Eni F. H. Faleomavaega, American Samoa’s nonvoting Democratic delegate to Congress, also urged consumers not to purchase tuna from nations whose canneries process fish supplied by the drift-net fleets.

DeFazio said it was his understanding that virtually all of the canned tuna imported from Southeast Asia contains fish caught by the drift-net fleets of Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, and that Thailand is the “principal processor” of such fish.

“The United States is the only major market for canned tuna, importing almost $250 million of drift-net caught tuna just last year,” DeFazio said. “I think American consumers would be willing to pay a few cents more for a can of tuna in order to force these nations to stop using drift nets.”