Arrest Nets 2 Greenpeace Members

At the crack of dawn Saturday, two members of Greenpeace stealthily climbed aboard a San Diego-based tuna fishing boat and unfurled a 12-foot long banner from the crow’s nest that read, “Stop Purse Seine Piracy: No Nets on Dolphins,” authorities said.

San Diego Harbor police arrested Julia Barsellotti, 20, of Ontario, Canada, and Dorine Khajezadeh, 24, of San Diego for trespassing aboard the Pisces. The two were later released, a harbor police spokesman said.

Greenpeace, a worldwide environmental organization, protested the net fishing tactics of the Pisces, a spokesman for Greenpeace said.

“For 20 years Congress had directed the U.S. tuna industry to find and use new ways of fishing that do not endanger dolphins,” said Traci Romine, a Greenpeace campaigner.

“The only response from the industry chiefs has been piecemeal, so-called safety measures that still rely on the setting of nets on dolphins. The bottom line is that as long as tuna nets are set on dolphins, dolphins will die,” Romine said.

The purse seine fishing technique uses several small boats that corral tuna into a confined area. The main boat releases the purse seine net, which is then closed.