Number: 1975-10
WHEREAS, the incidental killing of porpoises by commercial tuna fishermen in the eastern Pacific still continues at a rate well in excess of 100,000 animals a year; and
WHEREAS, all tuna purse seine fishing methods and procedures adopted to date and the fishery gear developed thus far have worked only to alleviate, rather than eliminate, the porpoise loss problem; and
WHEREAS, research has been deficient on porpoise population numbers and trends, causes of mortality, behavioral relations between tuna and porpoise, and several other aspects of population dynamics; and
WHEREAS, the spirit and intent of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 1972 is being violated by the continued, large incidental killing of porpoises; and
WHEREAS, there is growing evidence that local populations and/or races of the eastern spinner porpoise (Stenella longirostris) have been especially jeopardized by such fishing activities;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual convention assembled March 14-16, 1975, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, hereby urges the National Marine Fisheries Service to:
1. Establish a specific ceiling on the annual allowable kill of porpoises incidental to tuna purse seine fishing above which the tuna fishing fleet should not be permitted to “set on porpoises,” this ceiling figure to be halved each subsequent year until the kill is reduced “to insignificant levels approaching a zero mortality and serious injury rate” pursuant to Sec. 101 of MMPA; and
2. Establish a greatly expanded observer program funded from a substantial increase in the fees paid by industry for certification of inclusion where the cost of the certificate is directly related to the number of porpoises killed.