Dolphin Conservation: Media Information

Food scandal about the dolphin-deadly tuna sold at EDEKA’s expands

The canned tuna product recommended by WWF not allowed to be sold in the US

Munich, 7 July 2011 – The food scandal about the dolphin-deadly canned tuna sold at EDEKA’s expands. According to information from the Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Delphine e.V. (GRD)/Society for Dolphin Conservation the canned tuna product recommended by WWF as ecologically compatible is prohibited in the USA because it does not meet the strict US requirements for dolphin-safe tuna.

"While people in the US are protected from this dolphin-deadly tuna by law, consumers in Germany are offered a dubious product with misleading information: tuna that was caught by harassing dolphins and causing the deaths of countless dolphins," explains GRD’s biologist Ulrich Karlowski.

Several hundred dolphins die when tuna is caught by setting nets on dolphins–the method used to catch the tuna sold at EDEKA’s. In 2009 alone, about 1,300 dolphins died according to official documents. Scientists and conservationists fear that the actual number of dolphin mortality is much higher.

According to GRD, misleading consumers in this way is morally reprehensible. GRD advises consumers against buying this dolphin-deadly tuna sold in the EDEKA stores.

Background information:
The dolphin-deadly tuna sold by EDEKA originates from Seatech International of Columbia, a company which is known for their reckless pirate fishing methods.

The tuna sold by EDEKA was allegedly caught under AIDCP of the IATTC. However, Columbia is not a full member of the AIDCP, which has never been recognized by EII, GRD and other organizations as a serious dolphin conservation program anyway because it allows the harassing and killing of dolphins.

According to US law, "Seatech International" does not fulfill the requirements of AIDCP to a sufficient extent. As a consequence, this tuna may not be imported to the US.

In the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) tuna schools are frequently found swimming under schools of dolphins. This is a mysterious biological phenomenon that has to date only been observed in this region. Fishermen use the dolphins to locate the tuna and chase and encircle the dolphins to catch the tuna. GRD considers this as brutal harassment of dolphins.

According to the IATTC, the dolphins are to be released by a backdown procedure. However, several hundreds of dolphins are still being killed in the procedure because they cannot be rescued in time or because they die later from injuries they suffered during the "hunt". But despite today’s backdown technique the dolphin stocks have failed to recover. The negative impacts of the chases on the dolphins’ health and reproduction are assumed to be the reason for this, according to scientists.

Consumer warning: food scandal at EDEKA’s

Dolphin-deadly tuna sold in EDEKA stores with WWF recommendation

Munich, 29 June 2011 – The Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Delphine e.V. (GRD)/Society for Dolphin Conservation wishes to warn consumers about "dolphin-deadly" canned tuna that can be found in German EDEKA stores. This tuna – threatened yellowfin tuna – was caught with a fishing method that causes the deaths of over one thousand dolphins each year. According to official figures, about 1,300 dolphins were killed during the dolphin-associated purse seine sets in 2009. Scientists and conservationists fear that the actual number of dolphin mortality is much higher.

"What’s particularly fatal for the credibility of all ecolabels and food certification schemes is that this tuna is recommended by the WWF Germany", says GRD. "EDEKA and WWF support the cruel killing of uncountable dolphins."

The EDEKA tuna – sold in cans bearing the cynical information "transparent purchase, buy in good conscience" – is allegedly caught "with less bycatch and in a sustainable manner". According to GRD this is misleading consumers because this dolphin-deadly tuna originates from Seatech International of Columbia, a company which is known for their reckless pirate fishing methods.

"Dolphins are intentionally harassed and killed", says GRD. "This has nothing to do with selective fishing as is claimed on the tuna cans."

GRD advises consumers against buying this dolphin-deadly tuna sold in the EDEKA stores.

2010 Annual Conference of ECS in Stralsund

Poster presentation: "The Return of Phocoena phocoena to North Germany’s Rivers - A case study from the Weser River (2007 - 2009)" by Denise Wenger (pdf 7.5MB)

Petition against Faroese Pilot Whale hunts

-> -> Please sign our petition against Faroese Pilot Whale hunts

Underwater Unexploded Ordnance

Methods for a Cetacean-friendly Removal of Explosives as Alternatives to Blasting

Translation: S. Koschinski
Report by S. Koschinski and K.-H. Kock presented at the 61st Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC); supported by Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (Germany) – Abstract: Old sea-dumped ammunition poses a threat to marine mammals and the environment. For cetaceans, the conventional ammunition removal by blasting is a particular hazard. High sound pressure and explosion-related shock waves can lead to severe injury and hearing impairment in marine mammals at considerable distance from detonation sites. Alternative techniques to render old ammunition harmless are available and in order to minimize harm to marine mammals detonations in the marine environment can be avoided in most cases. Advanced techniques for treatment of ammunition are presented comprising freezing, the use of robotic equipment, Water Abrasive Suspension cutting, disposal in a Static Detonation Chamber and photolytic destruction of explosive substances. If underwater detonations cannot be avoided, suitable mitigation measures need to be introduced. Test detonations demonstrated that it was possible to reduce the danger area by over 98 % when using a double bubble curtain.

->->-> Read more (pdf)

Disillusioning Year of the Dolphin 2007/2008

UN Year of the Dolphin 2007/2008 amounts to nothing but a meaningless PR campaign for the TUI travel group

December 2008 – The UN year of the dolphin is drawing to an end. The German Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Delphine (GRD/Society for Dolphin Conservation) considers it an utter failure. “Nothing has been has been achieved for the dolphins. The whole campaign has been mere PR for TUI and its outcome is nothing to be proud of,” says Ulrich Karlowski, a biologist with GRD.

The Year of the Dolphin campaign under the leadership of the UN Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) has largely remained silent on key issues of dolphin conservation such as by-catch in fishing gear, the pilot whale hunts on the Faroese Islands – a big disgrace to Europe - or the barbaric dolphin massacres taking place in the coastal waters of Japan

A sad highlight was the closure of the Secretariat of ASCOBANS (Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas), rendering the only agreement to protect our native harbor porpoises actually toothless, GRD continues to say.

Each year, fishermen in Japan kill about 23 000 dolphins, harbor porpoises and small whales. A few prime dolphins are picked out to be sold to aquariums around the world. Off the Faroese Islands, some thousand pilot whales are killed each year in brutal mass killings. NGOs who wanted to draw attention to these issues within the framework of the Year of the Dolphin were simply excluded from the campaign out of consideration for the sponsor TUI: TUI’s offers include trips to dolphinariums that keep animals from the Japanese dolphin drive fishery, such as the “Ocean World Adventure Park” in the Dominican Republic.

The Year of the Dolphin has failed to contribute to existing projects to protect our endangered native harbor porpoises, including projects to promote the environmentally friendly removal of World War II ordnance, to reduce by-catch of harbor porpoises in fishing gear, or to implement noise control measures during the construction of offshore wind farms. “Whenever it is a question of dolphin survival or extinction, those in charge have largely remained silent,” says Karlowski. “What they did do, though, was engage in a lot of mutual back-patting and produce a great deal of colorful brochures and other materials.”

The UN has declared 2009 “Year of the Gorilla”. “We can only hope that the highly endangered primates will get more benefits from this campaign than did the dolphins,” concludes Karlowski.

back to top