Somefin’ Fishy in My Food?

In a world where the high demand for certified organic, non-GMO, and environmentally friendly produce has fueled a burgeoning market for premium groceries, one question remains as Americans begin to think more critically about what they put into their body: “Is there dolphin in my lunch?”

Yes, you read that right. A glance at the Epicurean Group’s meal content disclaimer in the Main Hall will confirm that the presence of dolphin meat in one’s food is a significant enough occurrence to require a public disavowal.

Though students at The Athenian School can rest easy knowing that the school’s dedicated chefs promise that their food is 100% dolphin-free—thank goodness; the idea of dolphin blubber floating about in one’s soup a troubling thought, however absurd—some may be surprised to learn that the “dolphin free” label has historically been a topic of controversy among senior industry executives and conservation activists alike.

In 1987, biologist Sam LaBudde went undercover on a commercial tuna fishing vessel to document the ship’s offshore activities. LaBudde conducted five months of secret surveillance on tuna fishing vessels and captured damning evidence that the tuna industry’s nets were encircling, trapping, and ultimately drowning dolphins en masse in pursuit of yellowfin tuna—a grim reality that LaBudde captured in excruciating detail.

Environmental Science Teacher Britt SchlaeGuada said that the dolphin deaths were an open industry secret before LaBudde’s footage aired on national television: “Fisherpeople found that tuna happened to cohabitate and exist in the same areas as dolphin schools did; scientists are not 100 percent sure why. What they found, fishermen and fisherpeople, was when they would round up the dolphins, the tuna would follow. So, they would effectively have to capture all of the dolphins and all of the tuna in order to get the biggest catch. They use these nets that are called purse seam nets which is exactly what it sounds like, it's just this giant net that comes in and closes in on everything, like a purse. The nets that they used to use, dolphins would get stuck and they would just effectively be what's called bykills, meaning they die, but there's really no use for them—they don't process them in any way. It's not like they make them into meats or anything. I think they estimated that between the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, over the course of 15, 20 years, 65,000 dolphins died as a byproduct of the tuna industry.”

While the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) insists they weren’t aware of the tuna industry’s dolphin problem, LaBudde’s findings exposed that the dolphin deaths were too conspicuous to have been an honest oversight—the government’s silence was likely on purpose.

Britt remembers the scandal that followed LaBudde’s broadcast, and said: “There was kind of some public outrage, right? It’s interesting to note that the NOAA and other government organizations definitely knew that this was happening but basically didn't care. There was a boycott against the tuna industry. People vote with their dollars, and so it did actually really affect the industry to the point where they had to finally address it.”

As a result of the boycott, the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act was enacted; it became a violation of U.S. law to label unqualified tuna as “dolphin-safe”. To qualify for use of the dolphin-safe label, the vessels used to catch the tuna were required to have observers on board to ensure the vessels were fishing according to the methods required by the dolphin-safe label. Today, violators can be charged up to $100,000 for each mislabeling offense.

Britt said that while this legislation did make a difference, the tuna industry is still legally permitted to kill dolphins to a limited extent: “Less doesn't mean zero, right? It's not like these companies, if one dolphin died, would lose their certification. [Companies still are allowed] to kill a reasonable number given the way that they need to be caught in the industry.”

However, Britt said that while dolphins are still killed in tuna fishing practices, no amount of dolphin actually makes it to the food consumers eat. They said: “I think when people see that label, it automatically makes people uncomfortable because they're like, ‘Wait, when was dolphin in the tuna fish to begin with?’ A common misconception is that dolphin was in tuna fish at some point. It's not about dolphins being in the food because dolphins never have been in the food, but it's about the safety of the dolphins in that fishing process.”

So, while there might be somefin fishy about canned tuna without a “dolphin free label,” at least fishing corporations aren’t able to be as flippant about animal rights. Pier pressure really does work!