What Does ‘Dolphin Safe’ Tuna Really Mean?

It’s a trusted, easy, go-to lunch. A few pieces of bread, some mayo, dijon, celery, and a simple can of tuna. Or so you thought.

As you piece it all together, you may have noticed on your tuna can’s label that there’s a small indicator reading, “dolphin safe.” But what exactly does that mean? And can you really trust that the can is telling you the truth? 

Where the “dolphin-safe” label began 

According to the Economics of Food Labeling: Dolphin Safe Tuna Labeling report by the United States Department of Agriculture, the Dolphin-safe signal was “one of many responses to concerns about tuna-fishing practices” that saw (and continue to see) fishermen encircle dolphins with their nets. It’s a practice known as “setting on dolphins,” as tuna and dolphins tend to move in schools side-by-side in fishing areas like the eastern Pacific Ocean. Often, the dolphins are entangled in nets meant to catch tuna, killing or severely injuring them in the process. 

In response to the dwindling dolphin population, the U.S. signed the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972. which limited the “killing of dolphins by U.S. fishing boats (but not by foreign boats),” the report stated.

And in 1990, the U.S. enacted the Dolphin Safe label law, which the International Marine Mammal Project explains “permits the use of a Dolphin Safe tuna label only for tuna caught without any intentional encirclement of dolphins” and “without any dolphin mortality or serious injury.” 

So, is all canned tuna sold in the U.S. dolphin-safe? 

The short answer is no.

As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) noted, “While the vast majority of the canned tuna sold in the United States has been certified as dolphin-safe, federal regulations allow U.S. processors and importers to purchase and sell non-dolphin-safe tuna.”

Tuna that is not considered dolphin-safe must have “originated from a U.S. purse seine vessel in sets where dolphins were accidentally killed or seriously injured, from a U.S. purse seine vessel with an assigned Dolphin Mortality Limit under the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program, or from foreign purse seine vessels flagged by a country that has obtained an affirmative finding from the Assistant Administrator.” These dolphin-unsafe tuna products cannot use the labels or markings associated with dolphin-safe products.  

The one thing you can be assured of is that a can that is considered dolphin unsafe does not contain any actual dolphin. But it does mean the way it was caught likely resulted in the death or maiming of at least one dolphin. 

Is the “dolphin-safe” law actually making a difference? 

It’s complicated. On the one hand, NOAA cited data by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission that states “the total annual mortality of dolphins in the fishery has been reduced from about 132,000 in 1986 to 819 observed mortalities in 2018 — about 0.01 percent of the population.”

However, as the 2014 report Net Loss: The Killing of Marine Mammals in Foreign Fisheries reports, “more than 650,000 marine mammals are killed or seriously injured every year in foreign fisheries after being hooked or entangled or trapped in fishing gear. Some of the harm is intentional — as is the case when fishing fleets use massive gillnets set upon dolphins as indicators that fish are present — while other harm is incidental, as when North Atlantic right whales are entangled in crab and lobster pots.” 

As the Net Loss report added, this bycatch is hastening the decline of “many marine mammal populations, including the New Zealand sea lion, Mediterranean sperm whale, vaquita, and J-stock minke whale” and could cause these species, and others, to go extinct. 

Still, even in this report, there are glimmers of hope. The researchers noted that the U.S. has reduced marine mammal bycatch by nearly 30% over 20 years, demonstrating “real progress on this problem is practicable across numerous commercial fisheries.”

But as the research team also shared, there’s plenty more work to be done, including holding other nations that export to the U.S. accountable and to the same standards as domestic fishers. 

So, what can you do? 

The easiest thing to do is check with Seafood Watch to see if there is any way the seafood you’re buying is considered sustainable. For tuna, the website explains that it’s best to buy canned tuna with one of the following terms clearly printed on the label: pole-caught, pole-and-line-caught, troll-caught, FAD-free, free school, or school-caught.

It also noted that “Albacore, bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin tuna caught in the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans with trolling lines, pole-and-lines, or purse seines without fish aggregating devices (FADs)” are typically safe, as are “Tuna caught by U.S. fisheries except bigeye tuna caught in the Atlantic Ocean with drifting longlines and bluefin tuna” and “Frigate tuna caught with purse seines in Ecuador.”

But, according to the website, if sustainability is important to you, avoid “all bluefin tuna species,” along with “Bigeye tuna caught by U.S. fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean with drifting longlines,” and “All tuna caught in the Indian Ocean,” as well as “Imported albacore, bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin tuna caught with drifting longlines or purse seines with FADs.” 

Save Dolphins also has a global list of dolphin-safe companies consumers can access at savedolphins.eii.org.