Judge Rebuffs Tuna Boats’ Bid to Ban Women

A federal judge in San Diego has dismissed three lawsuits by tuna boat operators aimed at keeping female observers of porpoise killings off their vessels.

The tuna boat operators, Dominic Castagnola, Caribbean Marine Service and Caroline M. Corp., said female government observers violate the privacy of all-male crews.

U. S. District Judge William B. Enright said claims of a violation of privacy “merely constitute inconvenience.” Enright issued a summary judgment on the actions July 7.

Enright said the tuna boat operators had provided no evidence of privacy violations from crew members who sailed with a female observer on previous trips.

The observers are marine biologists who are placed on board U. S. tuna purse seiners by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to monitor the number of porpoises killed during fishing.

Enright noted that Department of Commerce regulations providing for basic living accommodations for male and female observers are neither “arbitrary, capricious or violative of the crew members’ constitutional right to privacy.”

Enright had granted two preliminary injunctions in 1987 barring female observers from certain vessels until the privacy questions could be sorted out.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the injunctions in April of 1988, citing regulations concerning living accommodations for the observers.

James Stevens, Caribbean Marine Service Co.’s attorney, said he might appeal the dismissal.

Officials of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could not be reached for comment.