House Votes to Lift Tuna Import Bars

Despite warnings that thousands of dolphins will be killed, the House voted to lift the tuna import embargo and redefine when to label canned tuna “dolphin safe.” The legislation would end a seven-year-old U.S. embargo of tuna that is caught by encircling with giant nets. Strongly supported by the Clinton administration, it now goes to the Senate where its prospects are uncertain. The bill would allow the continued use of the dolphin-safe label even if tuna is caught by encirclement, although an observer must verify that the nets killed no dolphins. Tuna encirclement has been blamed for the loss of millions of dolphins, which in the eastern Pacific swim with tuna.