Dear Friends,


DOLPHIN PROTECTION ALERT


Don't Let the Bush Administration Cut Dolphin Protection!

Help Prevent Weakening of the "Dolphin Safe" Tuna Label!

Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans will be making a critical decision this year on whether or not to weaken the standards for the "Dolphin Safe" tuna label.

Tuna fishermen in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) target dolphins because tuna and dolphins form mixed schools. Since the late 1950's, the tuna fishery has killed more than 7 million dolphins. However, since 1990 and the advent of the "Dolphin Safe" tuna program, dolphin deaths have decreased by 97% in the ETP.

The "Dolphin Safe" tuna label has saved the lives of thousands of dolphins. The "Dolphin Safe" label now prohibits use of any tuna caught by chasing and netting of dolphins by fishermen (e.g. non-encirclement of dolphins).

However, politically connected tuna millionaires in Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela teamed up with free-trade advocates in the Bush Administration to undercut U.S. dolphin protection laws and open U.S. markets to dolphin-deadly tuna.

The Secretary's finding on the "Dolphin Safe" label is supposed to be based on science, but the politics of trade is winning out over the lives of dolphins.

YOU CAN HELP SAVE DOLPHINS! PLEASE IMMEDIATELY:

Write a letter to Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans:

Secretary of Commerce
US Department of Commerce
14th Street and Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20230
(No Deadline for Comments)

Send a copy to:

Regional Administrator, Southwest Region
National Marine Fisheries Service
501 Ocean Blvd., Suite 4200
Long Beach, CA 90802-4213
(Deadline for Comments to Regional Administrator: 4/16/02)

SAMPLE LETTER: (cut, paste onto a word document and print)

Dear Secretary Evans, Please do not allow the standards for the "Dolphin Safe" tuna label to be lowered. As it stands now, 100,000 dolphins per year are sanctioned to be killed and the "Dolphin Safe" label can still be on the cans of Tuna. Dolphins should not be chased and netted to catch tuna; there are alternative fishing methods that do no harm to dolphins. Scientists have shown that chasing and netting dolphins causes significant adverse impacts on dolphin populations, including preventing their recovery from depletion and separating dependent calves from their mothers.

Dolphins are loved around the world and I would support the masses in boycotting the tuna industry if the dolphin safe methods are altered.

Plese add my letter to the Official Decision Record.

Signature:
Print Name:
Address:

For further information, contact:

Earth Island Institute
International Marine Mammal Project
300 Broadway, Suite 28
San Francisco, CA 94133
Voice: (415) 788-3666; Fax: (415) 788-7324
email: marinemammal@earthisland.org

THANK YOU! for your efforts on behalf of dolphins
**********************************
Mark J. Palmer
Assistant Director
International Marine Mammal Project
Director Wildlife Alive
Earth Island Institute
300 Broadway, Suite 28
San Francisco, CA 94133

(415) 788-3666 x139
(415) 788-7324 (fax)

http://www.earthisland.org