I promised three months ago, I would return with more information regarding the U.S. Government broadening the DOLPHIN SAFE definition. Well I have it.
And I'm about as happy as Bob Dole's prostate doctor.
Sad to say that the House of Representatives under the suggestion of Commerce Secretary William Daley voted recently 316 to 108 to allow a banned
technique called "encirclement" to be used once more. Encirclement involves mile long nets strewn between two boats that corral entire schools of fish, killing
everything in the net.
This technique is the basis for the ban on tuna in America in the mid-eighties.
After nearly a decade of success in rebuilding the dolphin population we're ready to start killing them again.
I liken this to a child realizing that if he breaks a toy he can't play with it anymore. Better to let it rest and then play with it again later.
Secretary Daley justified his ruling saying there is no significant adverse impact to dolphins concerning encirclement. Well, he's wrong. In the 40 years
encirclement reigned in the tuna-fishing realm over 7 million dolphins were slaughtered.
To appease the tree huggers, Daley reminded everyone that the regulations would not allow more than 5,000 dolphin deaths per year. Okay, break out a
calculator, folks. 7 million by 40 years. It comes out to about 175,000 dolphins per year. I checked into Daley's background. He's a lawyer who failed in
economics because his math scores were too low. Go figure.
Daley however is a brilliant economist if you listen to his own press releases, which by the way don't even mention the encirclement ruling.
Now I mentioned before that I am not a tree hugger. I have long stood by the principle that the Earth has been around for billions of years and it will take a
whole lot to kill it with pollution and so forth but the animals stomping around the planets crust are not as hardy. Extinction happens often enough for it to
become a buzzword. As a result we shouldn't assist in the already efficient process. Let the creatures roam and swim. Just as they let us mill about without
restraint.
The argument in this arena has always been who is more important, dolphins or humans? Well, the answer is humans of course. As Batman said, "People come
first." (Not my best quote but I like Batman so sue me.) Representative Sherwood Boehlert of New York agrees with the caped crusader. "The choice is
between ideological purity and practical impact."
These are good points…but.
Walk around your grocery store and you're going to see enough tuna cans to build a Jeep Cherokee. I have never in my entire life had to go for want
concerning tuna. Why? Because one tuna yields approximately seventy five billion tons of meat. Ok maybe that's a stretch but have YOU ever went to buy a
can of tuna and found they were sold out?
There is no reason to lift the ban on encirclement. If the ban impacts the tuna fishermen then I give some broad reaching advice. "There are plenty of other fish
in the sea."
Until there is a shortage on tuna we should remain with the status quo. Oh by the way, Daley also says that another reason for the ban lift is NAFTA. Our trade
with Mexico is severely affected by America's strict dolphin safe policy and that they have a shortage of tuna in Acapulco. Well here's another suggestion.
Send all our tuna to Mexico because until this ban is reinstated we don't want any of it.
In any case, I've decided that Mr. Daley needs to become our new best friend. His email address is WDALEY@DOC.GOV.
I suggest everyone send him an e-card with a cute dolphin on it.
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