Chapter IV — Marine Mammal-Fisheries Interactions 
be Tuna Commission observers; (2) the establishment 
of a review panel to monitor compliance by the 
international fleet with the annual dolphin mortality 
limits; (3) expansion of the existing research and 
education programs, including an increase in efforts to 
find methods of catching large yellowfin tuna that do 
not involve encirclement of dolphins; and (4) estab- 
lishment of a scientific advisory board to make recom- 
mendations on the Commission’s research program. 
The Tuna Commission met again on 16-18 June 
1992 to adopt a mechanism to implement the dolphin 
quotas established at the April meeting. The parties 
agreed to a system whereby each vessel participating 
in the fishery would be given an individual dolphin 
mortality limit (DML). Each nation was required to 
submit to the Tuna Commission by 1 October 1992, 
the names of those vessels under its jurisdiction 
expected to set on dolphins in the eastern tropical 
Pacific tuna fishery during 1993 and for which a 
vessel quota would be assigned. The 1993 dolphin 
mortality limit was set by dividing the total allowable 
mortality (19,500) by the number of qualified vessels 
seeking a quota. Each party nation was given the 
latitude to adjust the limits for vessels under its 
jurisdiction, provided that the sum of the individual 
vessel limits does not exceed the aggregate for the 
nation’s fleet as a whole and no vessel is assigned an 
adjusted quota that exceeds its original quota by more 
than 15 percent. Such adjustments were to be made 
by 1 December 1992 and shall be applied during the 
1993 fishing season. Any vessel that leaves the 
fishery or that does not use any of its quota by 1 June 
1993 shall forfeit its quota for the remainder of the 
year. Unused quotas may be allocated to other 
vessels for the last half of 1993. Any vessel that 
exceeds its dolphin limit during 1993 will have the 
amount of the excess deducted from its 1994 limit. 
A resolution adopted at the Tuna Commission’s 
June meeting set forth the functions and responsibili- 
ties of the review panel that will monitor compliance 
with the international dolphin mortality quotas. The 
review panel will be composed of nine members, five 
of whom will be representatives of participating 
governments. The other four members will be two 
representatives of environmental organizations and 
two representatives of the tuna fishing industry. 
109 
The review panel held its first meeting on 15-16 
October 1992 and accepted the lists of vessels submit- 
ted by the party governments, which contained 106 
vessels. Each vessel was given a dolphin mortality 
limit for 1993 of 183 dolphins. Of the 106 vessels 
given quotas, 50 are from Mexico, 27 from Venezue- 
la, 14 from the United States, 10 from Vanuatu, 3 
from Panama, and 2 from Colombia. The panel 
scheduled its next meeting for January 1993, when it 
will consider criteria to qualify vessels to receive a 
dolphin mortality limit, procedures for removing 
vessels from the list if they do not use their quotas, 
and multilateral mechanisms to ensure compliance 
with dolphin quotas and other provisions of the 
intergovernmental agreement. 
Legislation 
The 1988 amendments to the Marine Mammal 
Protection Act established new requirements for U.S. 
tuna fishermen and for foreign tuna fleets that export 
tuna to the United States. Since then, additional 
amendments applicable to the eastern tropical Pacific 
tuna fishery have been enacted. As discussed in 
previous annual reports, the Dolphin Protection 
Consumer Information Act was enacted in 1990 as 
part of the Fishery Conservation Amendments of 
1990. It set forth criteria for when tuna and tuna 
products may be labeled “dolphin-safe” and estab- 
lished a fine of up to $100,000 as the penalty for 
knowingly mislabeling tuna caught in ways that are 
not dolphin-safe. 
As noted in the previous annual report, the Depart- 
ment of State committed itself at a January 1991 
intergovernmental meeting of tuna fishing nations to 
seek amendments to the tuna embargo provisions of 
the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The Department 
transmitted proposed legislation to Congress in June 
1991. Under the proposal, tuna would not be subject 
to an embargo if the harvesting nation (1) participates 
in an international dolphin conservation program in 
which the United States participates, (2) participates 
in research designed to find alternative ways to catch 
yellowfin tuna without setting on dolphins, (3) has 
100 percent observer coverage, (4) achieved a 50 
percent reduction in dolphin mortality in 1991 as 
compared to 1989; and (5) achieved a 60 percent 
reduction in mortality in 1992 as compared to 1989. 
