In the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP), some schools of yellowfin tuna associate with dolphins. Fishermen there have found that setting nets on dolphins to catch the tuna swimming underneath is an effective technique for tuna fishing, despite the fact the practice is extremely dangerous to dolphins. Since 1950 this practice led to the deaths of over 7 million dolphins.

In 1990 Americans' concern for dolphins brought about the "dolphin safe" tuna program. This program ensured that the "dolphin-safe" label could not be applied to tuna caught by intentionally encircling dolphins with tuna nets. Other provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) put in place a ban on the importation and sale of tuna caught by intentionally netting dolphins. These provisions have decreased tuna-related dolphin deaths by 97%.

April 1999: The Clinton Administration turns back the clock on dolphin protection and seeks to allow the intentional setting of tuna nets on dolphins. The Department of Commerce announces a weakening of the definition of the "dolphin-safe" label that will allow it to apply to tuna that was caught by chasing, harassing, and netting dolphins as long as an on-board observer reports no dolphins were killed or "seriously" injured during the course of the fishing trip. In making its decision, the Administration has ignores reports from its own scientists, whose research suggests that setting tuna nets on dolphins has been the source of significant adverse impact on depleted dolphin populations, and specifically that it has been the likely cause of the failure of some depleted dolphin populations to increased to healthy levels. Three dolphin stocks in the ETP, the northeastern offshore spotted, the eastern spinner, and the coastal spotted, are listed as depleted by the MMPA.

August 1999: Defenders and others sue Commerce Department for weakening "dolphin-safe" tuna labeling standards.

January 2000: The National Marine Fisheries Service, a branch of the US Department of Commerce, issues regulations to implement the 1997 International Dolphin Conservation Program Act, an amendment to the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The regulations contain numerous loopholes and fail to meet the requirements of the law.

February 2000: Defenders and others sue the Clinton Administration for its failure to follow US law in issuing regulations governing the catch and import of tuna associated with dolphins.

April 11, 2000: Defenders and coplaintiffs win our lawsuit filed against the Commerce Department for its weakening of the "dolphin-safe" tuna labeling standards. The judge ruled that the Secretary of Commerce acted contrary to law and abused his discretion when he weakened the standards last April. The judge’s ruling restores the meaning of the "dolphin-safe" label, prohibiting its application to tuna caught by intentionally netting dolphins.

April 12, 2000: The Clinton Administration lifts a 10-year embargo on Mexican tuna. Mexico was previously banned under U.S. law from exporting its dolphin-netted tuna to the U.S. for failing to take adequate dolphin-protection measures. As a result of yesterday’s win regarding the "dolphin-safe" label Mexico’s dolphin-netted tuna may enter the U.S. but not identified with a "dolphin-safe" label.

May 19, 2000: The Clinton Administration announces it will appeal last month’s court ruling that rejected the government’s efforts to weaken the "dolphin-safe" label.

Summer, 2000: After hundreds of letters from Defenders’ members and others, Wal-Mart and Food Lion agree to only sell tuna that was caught without harming dolphins.

September 2000: Defenders, with the help of its dedicated members, hears word that illegally-labeled tuna has made its way to U.S. supermarkets. Sending out an emergency DENlines, Defenders urges consumers to beware.

January 2001: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit hears arguments regarding the federal government's appeal of Defenders' win in the Label lawsuit.

July 23, 2001: In an important win for biodiversity and the environment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejects the Commerce Department's appeal to weaken the "dolphin-safe" label.

December 7, 2001: In a decision condemned by environmentalists, the U.S. Court of International Trade rules against Defenders and its allies in the lawsuit that we filed in February 2000 challenging the government’s failure to follow U.S. law in issuing regulations governing the catch and import of tuna associated with dolphins. The court’s decision allows dolphin-netted tuna to be sold in the U.S. (although not with a "dolphin-safe" label). Because the Court of International Trade ignored crucial information and applied the law incorrectly, Defenders has decided to appeal the case.

February 5, 2002: Defenders appeals the Court of International Trade’s December 7, 2001 decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. Defenders expects a decision late this year or early next year.

February 15, 2002: Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans announces the process by which he will make a critical decision this year on whether or not to weaken the standards for the "dolphin-safe" label. This is the second label "finding" that the IDCPA requires the Secretary to make by December 2002.

November 4, 2002: Defenders presents oral arguments to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in our case challenging the government’s failure to follow U.S. law in issuing regulations governing the catch and import of tuna associated with dolphins. Defenders is seeking to have the U.S. government fully implement the dolphin-safe label and to stop admitted over fishing in the area by other countries. Defenders expects a decision in early 2003.

December 6, 2002: With the second label "finding" required by the IDCPA about to be issued any day, Defenders obtains a draft report by government scientific experts that demonstrates the ETP tuna fishery is likely the cause of depleted dolphin populations’ lack of recovery. The Department of Commerce, which to date has refused to release the report to the public, must issue its label finding this month.

December 31, 2002: Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans issues a "final label finding" claiming that chasing and intentionally netting dolphins in the ETP does not have significant adverse effects on dolphins. Secretary Evans’s decision flies in the face of the government’s own experts’ conclusions, as described in a government report, that dolphin populations in the ETP are not recovering and that chasing and netting dolphins causes physiological stress and injuries, separates mothers from dependent calves, and causes untold numbers of unseen dolphin deaths.