Capture and Captivity for Dolphins

Last spring the Solomon Islands government granted a business consortium of Canadian, German, and Mexican interests a permit to capture as many as 100 bottlenose dolphins a year off its coasts—to start a local swim-with-the-dolphins program and for international trade. A World Conservation Union (IUCN) Cetacean Specialist Group inspection team recently confirmed that at least 94 dolphins have been held since June 2003—while other reports place the number perhaps twice as high—and 27 or more have been released because of unsuitability or other reasons.

It's impossible to verify how many dolphins have died during these captures, which are violently traumatic. Animals often drown in the capture nets. Those who survive often refuse to eat or develop health problems from stress, and many eventually die. In fact, the mortality rate for dolphins immediately after capture is six times higher than the norm for captive dolphins.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) allows international commercial trade in dolphins, but only if it has no detrimental impact on the species. Such trade must be justified by the best available science, but there is no science available on Solomon Islands dolphins. And while the island nation is not a party to CITES, any CITES country that trades with the Solomon Islands must require it to meet CITES standards. In spite of this, Mexico—a CITES party—allowed the import of 28 Solomon Islands dolphins to a swim-with facility in Cancún last July. Predictably, one died within days.

After a firestorm of protest from The HSUS and other environmental and animal protection groups, Mexico began to review its trade policies and prohibited any more wildlife imports from non-CITES parties—for now. It temporarily closed the Cancún facility, which already held 15 locally captured bottlenose dolphins from whom the Solomon Islands animals were not properly quarantined. One of the local dolphins died within a few weeks of the new arrivals. And the future of the surviving 27 Solomon Islands dolphins in Cancún remains uncertain.

Meanwhile, 40 or so dolphins still languish in makeshift sea pens in the Solomons. The IUCN team strongly advised CITES parties not to trade in them, but the Solomon Islands government remains unreceptive to protest, instead viewing the dolphins—who might sell for $30,000 or more each on the international market—merely as a source of income. Given the difficult conditions for people there, the dolphins' welfare hardly seems assured.

We'll keep urging the Mexican government to confiscate the imported dolphins for repatriation and release. We'll also keep pushing the Solomon Islands government to revoke all permits to the business consortium and to release the remaining dolphins back to the wild. And we'll keep you informed. For more on our efforts to protect captive dolphins, visit www.hsus.org and go to Marine Mammals.