Once again, huge kudos to David!
He continues to expose the smoke & mirrors that is Dolphin-safe Tuna.
Having expanded on his previous award-winning post, this is as crystal clear as it gets, and great reading on top of it. Extremely well researched and brilliantly formulated, it is also highly thought provoking as it sheds light on the complexity of conservation where nothing is just simply black or white and everything is interconnected.
There are no simple solutions here.
Like it or not, humans will continue to consume animal protein and satisfying that demand will always come at a cost, and any viable solutions will always have to be pragmatic compromises. Amid a multitude of bad alternatives, the best ones will be those focusing on long term sustainability and adequate management measures. This also implies a commitment to preserving biodiversity as a whole rather than attributing special status to selected pet species.
As David writes
A conscious choice to go back to a previously-banned fishing method that kills large numbers of charismatic animals puts a bad taste in my mouth, but the fact is that fishing for dolphin-associated schools of tuna catches primarily non-endangered dolphins and adult tuna. Dolphin-safe tuna fishing is killing dozens of species, many of whom are endangered, and threatening the integrity of entire ecosystems.
The old way may be the better of two bad choices.
Totally agree!
With one caveat: are we really unable to develop techniques allowing us to segregate among the bottom-oriented Tuna and the surface-oriented Dolphins when catching Dolphin-associated Tuna?
Really?
He continues to expose the smoke & mirrors that is Dolphin-safe Tuna.
Having expanded on his previous award-winning post, this is as crystal clear as it gets, and great reading on top of it. Extremely well researched and brilliantly formulated, it is also highly thought provoking as it sheds light on the complexity of conservation where nothing is just simply black or white and everything is interconnected.
There are no simple solutions here.
Like it or not, humans will continue to consume animal protein and satisfying that demand will always come at a cost, and any viable solutions will always have to be pragmatic compromises. Amid a multitude of bad alternatives, the best ones will be those focusing on long term sustainability and adequate management measures. This also implies a commitment to preserving biodiversity as a whole rather than attributing special status to selected pet species.
As David writes
A conscious choice to go back to a previously-banned fishing method that kills large numbers of charismatic animals puts a bad taste in my mouth, but the fact is that fishing for dolphin-associated schools of tuna catches primarily non-endangered dolphins and adult tuna. Dolphin-safe tuna fishing is killing dozens of species, many of whom are endangered, and threatening the integrity of entire ecosystems.
The old way may be the better of two bad choices.
Totally agree!
With one caveat: are we really unable to develop techniques allowing us to segregate among the bottom-oriented Tuna and the surface-oriented Dolphins when catching Dolphin-associated Tuna?
Really?
2 comments:
"Are we really unable to develop techniques allowing us to segregate among the bottom-oriented Tuna and the surface-oriented Dolphins when catching Dolphin-associated Tuna?
Really?"
If you come up with something, I'll help you find investors.
Well there's a challenge! :)
I vaguely remember reading about stuff like lowering the rim of the net, escape hatches, pingers and the like?
Probably not 100% effective (what is?) but surely an improvement?
I just don't believe that the bottleneck is human ingenuity - the bottleneck, as always, will be legislation and above all, enforcement.
Those measures will come at a cost and require additional work, and the fleets will only adopt them if forced to do so, and if adequately monitored thereafter.
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