Legal Research

Dolphin Safe Labeling

By jlutz99

In an opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued April 27th, the court refused to allow a relaxed standard for the "dolphin safe" tuna label.

This case concerns the practice of catching yellowfin tuna by encircling dolphins with purse-seine nets. The dispute over whether tuna sellers may label tuna as dolphin-safe if caught with such nets has a long history that for us begins with Congress?s enactment of the International Dolphin Conservation Program Act (?IDCPA?) in 1997. 16 U.S.C. § 1385 (1997). The statute required the Secretary of Commerce through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (?NOAA?), to conduct certain scientific studies and determine whether or not the tuna fishery is affecting the dolphin population. According to the bill?s proponents, Congress would weaken the then-strict tuna labeling requirements, and permit broader use of ?dolphin-safe? labeling, only if the Secretary found that the fishery was not having a significant adverse impact on already depleted dolphin stocks.

Read the opinion here.

Posted by Jon Lutz

Full post as published by FSU College of Law Library Blog on April 30, 2007 (boomark / email).