CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Ban on Tuna Imports Sought

Environmentalists asked a federal appeals court to reinstate an embargo on tuna imports from Mexico because Mexican fishermen have failed to reduce the number of dolphins killed by their nets. Joshua Floum, an attorney for Earth Island Institute, accused the Commerce Department of 17 years of foot-dragging in implementing the intention of Congress. The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act is being used by Congress to push the protection of dolphins. Tuna fishermen sometimes cast nets over air-breathing groups of dolphins because schools of yellowfin tuna generally swim under the dolphins.