This, from a press release sent to The Animals Voice Magazine for our coverage of the ongoing slaughter of dolphins by the tuna fishing industry, in January 1996.
News Release
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr.
For Immediate Release:
December 7, 1995
Statement of Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Dolphin-Safe Tuna Legislation
I am proud to join today with my long-time colleague in this endeavor—Senator Boxer—and with our colleague Congressman George Miller to announce the introduction of legislation which will preserve the integrity of the dolphin-safe tuna label and at the same time treat America’s trading partners in a fair way.
The dolphin-safe label that you find on your can of tuna fish is something that means a lot to the American consumer. It allows consumers to contribute in one small way to the global environment every time they go to the grocery store. And it has a made a difference in dramatically decreasing dolphin mortalities—and in dramatically INCREASING the chances that the dolphin will not become endangered as have so many other species.
The dolphin-safe label also means a lot to American consumers because it was their outcry and the grassroots efforts of consumers of all ages, especially children, that led to this important protection. In 1990, when Senator Boxer and I first introduced legislation, which became law, to require dolphin-safe labelling, we were acting in response to this public outcry over the senseless slaughter of tens of thousands of dolphins who were the innocent victims of tuna fishing practices at the time. This was followed by a ban on imports of tuna into the United States.
Unfortunately, there are now efforts to diminish the protection which the dolphin-safe label provides. There are now efforts to confuse consumers who believe that this label means just what it says—that no dolphins are killed or harmed in the fishing of tuna. There are now efforts to lift the ban on foreign nations importing their tuna into the United States without maintaining existing protections of the dolphin population.
The legislation which we announce today will maintain the protections offered by the dolphin-safe label—a protection that the American consumer has come to trust and rely upon. At the same time, our legislation will encourage trade by lifting the ban on foreign nations importing their tuna into the United States—as long as they meet the dolphin-safe requirements.
With all the problems we face today, labelling on tuna fish may not seem that important. But it is important to the American consumer, it is important to the future survival of the dolphin, and it is an important statement about our commitment to respecting the environment which is the great legacy we will leave to our children.
For more information about the Dolphin Safe Label, please read its Wikipedia page, as well as the NOAA report—neither of which mention nor give credit to the U.S. Senators who proposed the legislation in the first place. You may read the entire of the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act here.
