***The country's tuna processing centre becomes a hot spot Jor rampant dolphin slaughter.

AT the pubhc market, fish vendor Rosemary Portolosa deftly chops the huge chunks of fresh red meat while explaining how to t ook It.

1 don't know anything altout the law against this." she says as she tears apart what remains of a dolphin, caught off the bay just this morning by local fisherfolk.

Lying along the route between the Western Tropical Pacific Area — the most fertile grounds for yellowfin tuna — and Thailand. General Santos City Is Philippines largest tuna processing centre.

But as efforts to wrench the nourishing tuna market from Thailand become fiercer, this city has also become a hot spot for rampant dolphin slaughter.

Five tuna canneries operate here and two more are expected to open next year.

About 98 per cent of the city's tuna produce is exported to the United States and Europe, and some 10 tonnes of sashimi-grade fresh tuna are sent to Japan dally.

Thailand has managed to keep Ils processing costs low, but the Philippines intends to give it a run for its money by cutting cargo costs by half and setting competitive labour costs.

This area in the southern Island of Mindanao is also the site of a massive development project initiated by the Philippine Aid Programme, largely supported by funds from the United States. Its main focus is the region's re-kntlessly vigorous tuna Industry.

But with the Philippines lacking laws against dolphin slaughter and the government often having difficulty enforcing environmental regulations, many fear more development may mean more dolphins killed.

For reasons still unknown even to biologists, dolphins

swim with schools of big yellowfin tuna Some expert* have recently said, however thal tuna follow dolphin* a* they search for food.

Some large fishing boats are now equipped with sonar devices to track down tuna, but many marginal fisherfolk who supply moat of the canneries here remain dependent on dolphins to lead them to where the fish are.

Neither government agencies nor marine laboratories have estimates of the total dol phin population in the Philippines. But scientists fear rampant killings may soon decimate the country's dolphins, which live an average of only 30 years and can bear only up to 12 offspring in their lifetime.

Most General Santos fisherfolk use cast nets with the aid

of the payaw, a raft-like contraption that plunges deep into the water and attract* Osh and dolphins, which nibble on the bait. But dolphin* are air breathing mammals and some drown In the process — and wind up being sold as food.

Sometime*, fisherfolk on week-long expeditions also gun down dolphins and eat them. And though dolphin meat has yet to gain popularity here unlike in Japan's Izu Ifeninusla where it Is considered a delicacy, the animals are deliberately hunted for food and bait In various parts of this impoverished country.

But at 1992 study by Silliman University's Marine Laboratory In Dumagucte also blames purse seine fishing where nets that are closed at the bottom surround tuna and dolphins. Experts say the practice has depleted most Philippine fishing grounds.

Recently, a marginal fisherfolk* cooperative in General Santos held a meeting in which the leaders urged a stop to dolphin slaughter. Says

group head Carmen Grafon. We are afraid we might become like those places where 11. v haw neglected ihcir fishing ground* and arc now forced lo eat dolphin* '

Grafon* efforts are being boosted by the International outcry against dolphin killings, which have made unmnnHort-tl tuna catches unpopular among many consumer countries.

Japan has yet to sign an agreement against dolphin unsafe tuna. But in the United States, pressure from advocacy groups like Earth Island Institute (Ell) and the Marine Mammal Fund since 1988 has forced fish suppliers to stop selling tuna caught by driftnets or through tracking down dol phtns

Driftocttlng use* extra-tong nets that entangle anything in

Its path, dolphins included The United Nation* had been scheduled to ban commercial driftnets by the end of 1992.

Meanwhile, Puerto Rico. Thailand and Canada have banned "dolphin-unsafe' tuna. The European Community is also under pressure to prevent its becoming a dumping ground for dolphin-caught tuna.

Philippine canneries now need the dolphin-safe seal given by Ell and the US commerce department for their products to be allowed In US markets. "In case a supplier cannot guarantee they arc dolphin-friendly, we do not buy their catelj from them," says Rogelio Espina. plant manager for the Celebes Cannery here.

But tuna boat crewmembers say accidental dolphin catches often happen — and Coast Guard officials do little about them. Adds service vessel captain Manolito Arroyo: "If it's there, we might as well make use of it." —IPS