Reply #8: Tuna are extremely depleted, some species are near the brink of extinction [View All]

[LeftyMom]

Also, "dolphin safe" tuna is just greenwashing. In the past the tuna fleets would find tuna specifically by looking for dolphin pods, as they often swim above the tuna, and unlike tuna they come up for air and are visible at the surface. Then they would catch them in great big nets, which would naturally involve catching some dolphins as well. That's illegal now, so the "dolphin safe" method is to attract the tuna with floating objects, (tuna, being predatory, are curious about objects that may be food) and then throw a net out. Since the foreign objects attract dolphins, sharks, sea turtles, bony fishes other than tuna, tuna, and probably partridges in pear trees, this method actually increases the bycatch of everything else, while modestly decreasing the bycatch of dolphins. Pelagic dolphin species are generally not considered endangered, while many of the other animals subject to increased bycatch are.

Further, the populations of tuna themselves are in terrible shape.

The ecological solution is not to eat tuna at all. "Dolphin safe" tuna isn't, and it's even worse for other seagoing creatures than the old method.