MNB reported last week that the US Commerce Department softened the requirements for using the “dolphin safe” label on tuna fish, saying that it may be used as long as it can be certified that no dolphins were killed or seriously injured during the catch, even if the tuna was caught by using dolphins to encircle the tuna. The ruling will allow Mexico and Ecuador to ship tuna to the United States.
No sooner did the federal government make the announcement than environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the Bush administration.
"The administration's own scientists have shown that the fishing practice (newly reclassified as dolphin-safe) is a disaster for dolphins," David Phillips of Earth Island Institute, told The San Francisco Chronicle. "This is no more than a political gift to Mexico at the expense of dolphin lives."
No sooner did the federal government make the announcement than environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the Bush administration.
"The administration's own scientists have shown that the fishing practice (newly reclassified as dolphin-safe) is a disaster for dolphins," David Phillips of Earth Island Institute, told The San Francisco Chronicle. "This is no more than a political gift to Mexico at the expense of dolphin lives."
- KC's View:
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On Friday, we asked who does the certifying. Flipper?
We then received an email from MNB user Gene Grabowski of the Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA):
“In answer to one of your questions in today's morning report, under Section 16, paragraph D2 of the U.S. Code, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce certifies whether tuna is dolphin-safe or not. Of course, some lesser official at Commerce is likely tasked with this specific assignment.”
To be honest, we’d feel better if it were Flipper.