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Dolphin-Safe Captain's Training Course

Vessel captains must complete the Tuna Tracking and Verification Program Dolphin-Safe Captain’s Training Course for tuna to be certified as dolphin-safe.

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Table of Contents

Captain certification of completion of this course is required for all fishing trips that begin on or after May 21, 2016.  However, this training course is not required of captains of large purse seine vessels (having a carrying capacity of more than 400 short tons (362.8 metric tons)) fishing in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.

For tuna to qualify as “dolphin safe” in the United States, U.S. regulations require a written statement from the captain of the vessel certifying that "no purse seine net or other fishing gear was intentionally deployed on or used to encircle dolphins during the fishing trip on which the tuna were caught, and that no dolphins were killed or seriously injured in the sets or other gear deployments in which the tuna were caught."  The captain must also certify on the written statement, completion of the NMFS Tuna Tracking and Verification Program dolphin-safe captain's training course.  This written statement is known as a Captain's Statement.

Captains may complete the Tuna Tracking and Verification Program Dolphin-Safe Captain's Training Course by reading all of the information below on this web page or the PDF version (PDF, 10 pages). Reading the Internet links is optional.

Translations

NOAA Fisheries has translated the training course into eight languages to ensure that the vast majority of languages spoken by captains harvesting tuna for the U.S. tuna product market are covered by the translations.

Illustrated Glossary of Technical Terms

Dolphin Anatomy

Key dolphin anatomy. Adapted from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations publication Marine Mammals of the World by Thomas A. Jefferson, Stephen Leatherwood, and Marc A. Webber; 1993.

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Dorsal fin examples. Adapted from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations publication Marine Mammals of the World by Thomas A. Jefferson, Stephen Leatherwood, and Marc A. Webber; 1993.

Identifying Dolphins of the Taxonomic Family Delphinidae

Purpose: NOAA Fisheries does not require captains to identify dolphins down to the species level. However, a captain must be able to identify whether an individual animal belongs to the dolphin taxonomic family, Delphinidae.

  • Dolphins are small cetaceans with a single blowhole, teeth and no baleen.
  • Dolphins are members of the family Delphinidae.
  • Most members of the family Delphinidae:
    • Range in size from 1 to 1.8 meters for the smallest dolphins and up to 9.8 meters for the largest male killer whales.
    • Live in a marine habitat.
    • Have a noticeable beak. Some exceptions to this are pilot whales, false killer whales, Risso’s dolphins, and killer whales.
    • Have pointed or tapered teeth.
    • Have a falcate dorsal fin located near the middle of the dolphin’s back (see drawing). Falcate means “curved” on the rear edge. However, the Northern right whale dolphin has no dorsal fin.

There are exceptions to each of these guidelines, but most dolphins have these characteristics.

For information on dolphin identification by species, please see the appropriate chapters in the publication Marine Mammals of the World developed by the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Identifying Intentional Gear Deployment on or Encirclement of Dolphins

None of the tuna harvested on a fishing trip qualifies as dolphin-safe in the United States if, at any time, a purse seine net or other fishing gear was intentionally deployed on or used to encircle dolphins during that fishing trip.

When a purse seine vessel deploys its net, if a dolphin(s) is seen in the encirclement area only after the start of the set (i.e., the skiff is let go), this is considered an accidental capture set. It is not considered an intentional deployment or encirclement of dolphins; therefore, tuna harvested during this set would still be considered dolphin-safe.

Identifying Dolphin Mortality and Serious Injury

Mortality Determination

A mortality is deemed to have occurred when a dolphin is observed to have died as a result of the fishing set or other gear deployment in which the tuna were caught. In other words, dolphin mortality means the dolphin’s life has ended and it is dead.

Serious Injury Determination

Dolphin “serious injury” means any injury that is more likely than not to lead to the death of the dolphin.

The following two lists are provided to help captains assess injury to dolphins. These lists only cover injuries likely to be seen during fishing activities.

  1. The following injuries indicate a serious injury:
    • Swallowed fishing gear, such as hooks.
    • A dolphin brought onto the vessel after it is caught.
    • Fishing hook(s) in the head.
    • Gear attached to a free-swimming dolphin with potential to:
      1. Constrict the animal.
      2. Be swallowed.
      3. Create or accumulate drag.
      4. Snag on something in the environment, anchoring the animal.
    • Anchored, immobilized, or entrapped and not freed.
    • Gear wrapped and constricting on any body part that is likely to become constricting as the animal moves or grows.
    • Visible fractures, excluding pectoral flippers.
    • Broken spinal column (i.e., broken back), including fully severed tail.
    • Body cavity penetration by foreign object or body cavity exposure (i.e., internal body organ(s) visible).
    • Partially severed tail (i.e., more than half-way across the tail).
    • Dependent animal (i.e., a calf or juvenile dolphin) released alone post-interaction or dependent animal left with a seriously injured or dead mother.
  2. The following injuries, on a case-by-case basis, may or may not indicate a serious injury. However, the presence of multiple injuries may be a serious injury. Whether multiple injuries qualify as a serious injury depends on the severity of each injury on a case-by-case basis:
    • Observed or reported collision with a vessel.
    • Visible blood loss.
    • Hook(s) confirmed in lip only, external tissue outside of teeth, no trailing gear.
    • Hook(s) in any body part, but hook(s) is removed or pulls out.
    • Hook(s) in external body part (i.e., appendage) or body without trailing gear or with trailing gear that does not have the potential to:
      1. Constrict the animal.
      2. Be ingested.
      3. Accumulate drag.
      4. Snag on something in the environment, anchoring the animal.
    • Anchored, immobilized, entangled, or entrapped before being freed without gear attached. The longer this condition lasts, the more likely it is to cause a serious injury called ‘capture myopathy.’ Some dolphin species are more sensitive to capture myopathy and can be seriously injured after just a few minutes of entrapment.
    • Gear wrapped and loose on any body part.
    • Loss or disfigurement of dorsal fin.
    • Partially severed tail, not transecting midline.
    • Partially or completely severed or fractured pectoral flipper(s).
    • Social animal separated from group and/or released alone post-interaction.

Physically Separating Dolphin-Safe Tuna From Non Dolphin-Safe Tuna

  • If a dolphin death or serious injury occurs during a set or other gear deployment, all tuna from this set or other gear deployment is considered non dolphin-safe and must be kept physically separate from dolphin-safe tuna caught in other sets or other gear deployments.
  • The captain is responsible for ensuring dolphin-safe tuna is kept physically separate from non dolphin-safe tuna.
  • The captain is responsible for designating where non dolphin-safe tuna is to be stored aboard the vessel.
  • Tuna caught during a set where a dolphin was killed or seriously injured must be kept physically separated through unloading.
  • If a purse seine vessel has more than one well used to store tuna, all tuna inside a well shall be considered non dolphin-safe, if at any time non dolphin-safe tuna is loaded into the well, regardless of the use of netting or other material inside the well. In other words, a captain is to designate which well is being used to store non dolphin-safe tuna on a particular trip, if there was a set in which a dolphin was killed or seriously injured. The particular well the captain designates as storing non dolphin-safe tuna may change each fishing trip. However, there may be fishing trips where there was no dolphin mortality or serious injury in any of the sets. Therefore, none of the wells on that fishing trip would contain non dolphin-safe tuna.
  • United States dolphin-safe regulations specify that for non-purse seine vessels, the use of netting or other material can be used to keep dolphin-safe tuna physically separate from non dolphin-safe tuna. For purse seine vessels with only one storage well, dolphin-safe tuna must be kept physically separate from non dolphin-safe tuna by using netting or other material.
  • Other materials can include trash bags, tarp, netting, fabric, or other material that is readily available that can create a physical separation within the storage area.
  • Markings on the tuna, such as tying line to the tail or cutting off the tail, are not sufficient to meet the requirement to keep non dolphin-safe tuna physically separated from dolphin-safe tuna.
  • Example: For non-purse seine vessels and for purse seine vessels with only one storage well, a section of netting or a tarp can be laid over previously caught dolphin-safe tuna.
    • All non dolphin-safe tuna from a particular set or gear deployment can then be stored on top of the netting or tarp.
    • At the end of the set or gear deployment, an additional section of netting or a tarp is laid on top of the non dolphin-safe tuna.
    • By tagging both sections of netting or tarps, identification of the non dolphin-safe tuna has been made so that future catches of dolphin-safe tuna can continue to be stored in the same vessel storage area on top of the non dolphin-safe tuna.

More Information

Last updated by Office of International Affairs, Trade, and Commerce on 08/02/2023

Dolphin-Safe Tuna Tracking and Verification Program