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For Immediate Release
Students Around the Country are Speaking Out Against Weakening "Dolphin-Safe" Tuna Label
Letters to President Bush are Loud and Clear: Keep Our Dolphins Safe
WASHINGTON– Defenders of Wildlife has received more than 1,500 letters from students around the country urging President Bush to stop the dolphin-safe label from including foreign tuna caught by dolphin-deadly fishing methods. In an essay contest sponsored by Defenders, students in grades one through 12 tell the President why it is important to keep the dolphin-safe label strong.
"Students definitely want to have their voices heard when it comes to protecting dolphins," said Defenders’ President Rodger Schlickeisen. "Defenders hopes to educate and empower students to speak out on environmental issues, such as protecting the ‘dolphin-safe’ tuna label. This contest is a first step for many students to make a difference."
Four-time gold medal swimmer and recent national champion Amanda Beard is the spokesperson for the contest. She now attends the University of Arizona and is nurturing a long-time interest in environmental protection and marine issues. "Defenders and I are calling on school students across the U.S. to get involved in order to stop the harming of innocent dolphins while catching tuna," said Beard.
For reasons not completely understood, schools of yellowfin tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean swim directly below dolphins. Fishing vessels chase dolphins to locate tuna and encircle the area with fishing nets to catch the tuna below. Many dolphins drown in the tuna nets or suffer severe stress after being caught. More than seven million dolphins have died over the last several decades because of this practice. Consumer outcry over the slaughter of dolphins led U.S. tuna fleets to stop this practice, and to develop dolphin-safe fishing practices and labeling. The U.S. Department of Commerce now plans to allow foreign tuna caught using the encirclement technique to carry the dolphin-safe label.
Students can still submit their letters to Defenders, but they must be postmarked by April 25. Letters can be sent as an attachment by e-mail to education@defenders.org or by mail to Education Associate, Defenders of Wildlife, P.O. Box 34643, Washington, D.C. 20005. For more information, students can visit Defenders’ Kids’ Planet website, www.kidsplanet.org.
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Defenders of Wildlife is a leading nonprofit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation’s most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 430,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on environmental issues.
