In a letter dated March 17^th Dr. Paolo Bray, director of the EDSMO (The European Dolphin Safe Monitoring Organization), which is a part of the US based Earth Island Institute (EII), accuses the EU of supporting the AIDCP dolphin safe logo. The AIDCP (Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program) logo, is being run by the IATTC, the organization that monitors the tuna catch in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Because of the Spanish involvement in Eastern Pacific tuna fishing, the EU has also become a member of the IATTC (Inter American Tropical Tuna Commission).

EDSMO and EII has been sending letters to the EU Fisheries Agency, Mr. Cesar,i because they feel that the EU should not support the AIDCP dolphin safe definition, since the program allows setting nets on dolphins. EII argues that this is contrary to EU council Regulation 894/97 (Article 10(17)) which states: “It shall be prohibited to undertake encirclements with purse seines on schools or groups of marine mammals when aiming to catch tuna or other species of fish.  Notwithstanding Article 1 (1), this paragraph shall apply to all vessels flying the flag of, or registered in, a Member State in all waters under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of the Member States, as well as outside those waters.”

Although EU Fisheries informed EDSMO that they were preparing a detailed response, Mr. Cesari of EU Fisheries said that the cooperation between EII and the EU would be better if the group stopped “spread up not founded allegations towards the European Community.” EII has proof that internal instructions were given to Mr. Cesari from a higher level, to “not answer” any correspondence from EDSMO/EII.

EDSMO has registered in Europe its own Dolphin Safe logo as an official trademark. Several EU companies and have started using the EDSMO dolphin safe logo, for which they pay a royalty to the EDSMO program. The AIDCP dolphin safe logo is registered by the IATTC, which is supported by contributions from member countries, such as the EU.

Here below the full text of the March 17th letter of Dr. Paolo Bray to Mr. Cesari of EU Fisheries management.

MARCH 17, 2005

Re. DOLPHIN SAFE TUNA AND ETP TUNA FISHERY

Dear Mr Cesari,

We again seek your response regarding EU actions with respect to dolphins in the Eastern Tropical Pacific.

Both Earth Island Institute (EII) and its European Agency 'The European Dolphin Safe Monitoring Organization' (EDSMO) fully support the European Commission efforts to comply with the EU consumers demand for tuna caught without methods that chase, net, injure or kill dolphins.

The entire EU tuna industry, with one exception, and the vast majority of the industry worldwide (see attached updated list of companies) support the "no chase, capture, or killing of dolphins" standard for dolphin safe tuna. This is the only standard that can be justified by credible independent science. Clearly you are aware that efforts to employ the IATTC dolphin safe criteria in US markets have been repeatedly struck down by courts as being arbitrary, capricious, and unjustified by science.

It is a matter of concern to us that the European Union Fisheries Agency, representing the membership and annual funding of the IATTC by Spain and France, is undermining the interests of European tuna companies and contributing to the further decline of depleted dolphin species. As you know, the great majority of the European tuna industry has never been consulted by the EU Fisheries Agency in the drafting of EU regulations pertaining to the IATTC. Further, members of the tuna industry have expressed to the EU Fisheries Agency their concern that an EU supported promotion of an alternative logo that purports to be dolphin safe, yet allows encirclement of depleted dolphin population, would severely jeopardize consumer trust in canned tuna. Yet, the EU Fisheries Agency continues to support AIDCP “dolphin safe” standards that directly conflict with previous EU policy EU and tuna industry standards in Europe. In supporting the IATTC program, which is of interest only to a very small minority of the EU tuna industry, the E U Fisheries Agency is ignoring the fact that the majority conforms with the true international dolphin safe criteria of no netting or chasing dolphins. Council Regulation 894/97 (Article 10(17)) states: “it shall be prohibited to undertake encirclements with purse seines on schools or groups of marine mammals when aiming to catch tuna or other species of fish”. This remains the case for all EU tuna fishing operations outside of the ETP, including fishing in European waters. Subsequent amendments, as we have noted above, were added at the behest of the EU Fisheries Agency without notice or consultation with the EU tuna industry.

At the recent IATTC workshop in La Jolla, the IATTC outlined plans to again promote their false and unscientific "dolphin safe" criteria in Europe this summer. As consenting members and financial contributors to the IATTC, Spain, France and the EU must properly be considered contributing funders of the promotion of the AIDCP logo. This action unfairly discriminates against the label and dolphin safe criteria used by the vast majority of the EU tuna industry. Further, it undermines the non-encirclement dolphin safe criteria that have been determined by exhaustive scientific study to be the most defensible.

Eight years after its introduction, the IATTC standard has achieved virtually no support in the EU. The international Dolphin Safe criteria of “no encirclement of dolphins” on the other hand has become the industry standard. We believe it is inappropriate for the EU Fisheries Agency to lend support to a standard that is neither scientifically defensible nor accepted by the overwhelming majority of the tuna industry.

The prospect of the IATTC spending its resources promoting a failed and misleading label is particularly offensive at a time when the IATTC has a forecasted deficit of more than $US 1 million.

Earth Island Institute has expressed concerns in the past on several occasions to the IATTC and the US National Marine Fisheries Service about overfishing in the ETP tuna fishery (and subsequent harm to tuna stocks) and the lack of bycatch reduction effort by the IATTC. Earth Island and the other organizations that signed our recent letter of concern to the EU by no means intended to, in your words: “spread up not founded allegations towards the European Community.” Our statements of concern were extensively documented by the attached report prepared by Defenders of Wildlife. We believe our claims accurately reflect the scientific and political situation at the IATTC.

We appreciate that EU delegates have spoken out from time to time in support of stronger measures at the IATTC. Unfortunately, the end result is that the IATTC continues a string of failures. The IATTC has failed to restrict fishing practices that deplete dolphin populations, failed to enact measures in keeping with scientific recommendations to protect yellowfin and big eye tuna stocks, failed to reduce overall vessel capacity in the fishery to sustainable levels, and has failed to take actions needed to reduce bycatch. The results of these failures are well documented: depleted dolphin populations are not recovering, tuna stocks are in jeopardy, and bycatch has increased in the fishery.

Finally, while we have differences of view with the policies of the EU Fisheries Agency in this matter, we have always communicated the Agency in good faith. In common with all other NGO's in the EU and worldwide, and as citizens of the European Union, we are at liberty to exercise our right to express our views and be provided with the rationale for EU Agency actions.

Mr. Spencer's instruction to you to: “don’t reply” to our request for information undermines the transparency of the EU Fisheries Agency in your dealings with the public.

Yours sincerely

Dr Paolo Bray
Director
European Dolphin Safe Monitoring Organization
Earth Island Institute