Mexico Criticizes U.S. Court Ruling on Tuna

Mexican authorities said a U.S. federal court ruling on “dolphin-safe” labels that effectively extends the U.S. ban on Mexican tuna was unfair and uninformed. “This is a great loss for Mexico,” said Dalia de la Pena Wing, spokeswoman for the Secretariat of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries. U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson on Tuesday blocked the Clinton administration’s attempts to loosen standards for “dolphin-safe” tuna, a label fishermen need to sell their fish in the United States. The change would have given the designation to the method of catching tuna Mexican fishermen use, even though they often trap dolphins in the same nets used to snare tuna. Mexico argues its industry does not harm the dolphins because they are immediately released from the nets. The ruling “disregards all the scientific evidence that the U.S. government presented with the backing and participation of many serious environmental groups,” a statement from the environment secretariat said. Mexico has been battling for nine years to reenter the U.S. market after being banned because of concerns about the dolphins. Officials estimate the embargo has cost the country $50 million annually.