Conservation groups challenging the Bush administration's decision to loosen labeling standards for "dolphin-safe" tuna announced an agreement with the administration late Tuesday to leave the stricter standards temporarily in place.
Organizations led by Earth Island Institute had planned to ask a federal judge in San Francisco today for a restraining order against the government's new rules, which allow tuna to be labeled dolphin-safe even if it is caught in nets that encircle dolphins. Government officials say observers stationed on tuna boats would make sure that no dolphins were killed or injured.
But Mark Palmer of Earth Island Institute said the administration had agreed Tuesday, somewhat unexpectedly, to a stay that retains the former standards until a hearing on a preliminary injunction, probably in about two months. An injunction would freeze the standards indefinitely until the suit went to trial unless a higher court intervened.
Rules in place since 1990 allow tuna to be labeled as dolphin-safe only if it is caught without netting dolphins, which swim above schools of tuna in the eastern Pacific. Hundreds of thousands of dolphins were being killed by tuna fleets each year before U.S. conservation groups began a campaign 30 years ago to change fishing practices.
Major U.S. brands sell only tuna that is labeled dolphin-safe. Leading brands, including StarKist, Bumble Bee and Chicken of the Sea, have promised to maintain their refusal to buy tuna caught by netting dolphins, even if the U.S. government classifies the tuna as dolphin-safe.
Palmer said details of the temporary agreement were to be worked out today. The National Marine Fisheries Service, the government agency involved in the dispute, was unavailable for comment late Tuesday. "We're pleased with the decision to protect Americans and the integrity of the dolphin-safe label," Palmer said.
A labeling change would primarily affect tuna from Mexico, a major exporter that has been kept out of the U.S. market for more than a decade because its tuna boats drop nets on dolphins.