As for mercury poisoning, you're right to be concerned. At this point, nearly all fish and shellfish contain trace amounts of mercury—a potent toxin that can cause damage to the brain and nervous system. Children, nursing mothers, and women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant need to be cautious about eating seafood.
The EPA says that pregnant and nursing women may consume up to three four-ounce servings of canned light tuna including skipjack or one four-ounce serving of yellowfin, albacore, or white tuna from its Best Choices list per week. Children may have one or two two-ounce servings per week. You can reduce your risk by eating fish known to have lower amounts of mercury, such as salmon, sardines, herring, and trout.
Something went wrong. Please email webmaster sierraclub. By signing up, you are opting in to receive periodic communications from the Sierra Club. Requiring dolphin-safe fishing practices for tuna sold in the U. The population of dolphins associated with tuna fishing has stabilized, although they have yet to rebound to their former numbers. As the popularity of tuna increased in the s, particularly canned tuna, commercial fishermen felt pressure to increase supplies.
From experience, they learned that in eastern tropical Pacific waters, yellowfin tuna often ran with dolphins. Dolphins were easy to spot, so fishermen would target dolphins with their nets to catch schools of yellowfin swimming beneath. As a result, millions of dolphins have perished in tuna fishing nets. The Marine Mammal Protection Act of was modified several times in the s in an attempt to curb the mortality rate of dolphins. The Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act resulted in the "dolphin-safe" labeling campaign.
It received enthusiastic public approval, yet the requirements for such labeling still left loopholes for imported tuna. Earning the dolphin-safe label requires allowing an independent observer on each fishing vessel to confirm that dolphins were not viewed, chased, encircled, killed, or seriously injured during the tuna harvest.
Mexico challenged the U. The U. While previously Mexico was the only nation the U. Many international tuna companies comply with the policies set by the International Marine Mammal Project of the Earth Island Institute, on which the U. Dolphin Safe label is based. This was the definition of Dolphin Safe that was later codified in federal law under the Dolphin Conservation Consumer Education Act of In , the Dolphin Safe label definition and standards by IMMP and the US Congress were enlarged to also ban any tuna from carrying the label where any dolphins were accidentally killed or seriously injured.
This happens rarely in tuna fishing, if the tuna vessel is targeting tuna schools rather than dolphin pods. Some brands of dolphin-deadly tuna do show up in US stores, especially Latinx specialty stores. These tuna brands cannot carry a Dolphin Safe label unless the company can prove they were caught without chasing and encircling dolphins. To be certain about a can of tuna, shoppers are encouraged to check the IMMP online listing of more than Dolphin Safe tuna companies that have pledged to catch and sell only truly Dolphin Safe tuna with no dolphins chased, harassed, netted, killed or seriously injured.
April 19, June 8, May 13, Friend of the Sea certification aligned with dolphin-safe regs. April 20, Contact Advertise Media Kit [email protected].
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