When Mexico’s main commercial fishing association celebrated its 50th anniversary on May 11, its members had something extra to toast: the end of an eight-year U.S. ban on imports of Mexican tuna. Less than two weeks earlier, the United States had changed its “dolphin-safe” standard, determining that the use of large, encircling nets to catch tuna in the eastern Pacific no longer appears to be killing significant numbers of dolphin. The new rules, announced on April 29 by U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daly, end bans on tuna imports from a number of Latin American nations, including Colombia, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Panama. But the main beneficiary is Mexico, home of the region’s largest tuna fleet. Small wonder, then, that an extra-celebratory mood... [Log in to read more]
