76-17-B7
- Main Page \ Reagan Radio Commentaries \ 1977
| << Previous Broadcast | Next Broadcast >> |
Porpoises and Tuna[edit]
Transcript[edit]In an ocean-going version of "Mary's Little Lamb", wherever you find porpoises in the warm waters of the Eastern rim of the Pacific, the tuna are almost sure to follow. Enter the tuna fishermen. Most of the U.S. fleet of tuna boats is based in San Diego, California and uses the purse seine method of fishing. This means they set nets over a wide area and, as the schools of tuna swim into them, they draw the nets closed to trap their catch. In the process, many porpoises -- not fish at all, but air-breathing mammals --get caught in the nets and drown. The tuna fishermen shifted to the purse seine method in 1959, for efficiency's sake. By 1972, though, environmentalists were so alarmed that the porpoise might become extinct that they succeeded in getting the Marine Mammal Protection Act passed to stop or slow down the killing. Since then, as a result of the Act and of federal regulations, the allowable number of porpoises that could be trapped with the tuna catch has dropped sharply, reaching a "zero" quota after a court case early this year. Faced with this restriction, the two-billion-dollar-a-year-tuna industry, employing 30,000 workers, came to a halt. The skippers tied up their boats in port to await a compromise solution. They have since gone back to sea, after assurances that Congress would come up with such a compromise. Whether the environmentalists will go along remains to be seen. If they don't, the U.S. tuna fleet will almost certainly be forced to sell to new owners in other countries. Ironically, if this were to happen the environmentalists' cause would be worse off, for foreign governments impose no controls on porpoise kills on their vessels. There's another irony, too. It seems the porpoise, long believed by scientists to be one of the smarter mammals, is getting the knack of beating the purse seine. For several years the tuna fishermen have had occasional encounters with porpoises they've come to call "The Untouchables". These porpoises would let themselves be encircled by the three-quarter-mile long net and then swim out the bottom or a side opening just as the net was being closed. In the process of diving, "The Untouchables" would take the tuna right out with them. The loss of such a catch can amount up to $60,000 worth of tuna. Such incidents are on the increase. Porpoises are also detecting the boats at greater distances then before, fishermen say. They scatter when the boats get close -- and so do tuna. A side benefit of the porpoises' growing familiarity with the fishermen's techniques is that they are calmer than before when trapped. Fishermen report that many, instead of thrashing about trying to escape, now wait quietly till the netters begin the process of dropping the net after making the catch. This allows the porpoises to swim free without losing the tuna. At the rate things are going, the porpoises may solve the problem before Congress does. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
Details[edit]
| |||||||||||
Added Notes[edit] |
