Whales become entangled in fishing gear at alarming rates — suffering prolonged deaths that can take months.
Whale entanglement in fishing gear causes some of the most prolonged individual animal suffering documented in wildlife welfare. Whales caught in lobster and crab trap lines can survive for weeks or months, dragging the weight of multiple gear sets that impede swimming and feeding. Progressive wounds from the cutting rope, combined with starvation and exhaustion, cause a slow, painful death. For critically endangered species like North Atlantic right whales, each entanglement death also pushes the species closer to extinction. Ropeless fishing technology eliminates the entanglement risk entirely and is commercially available.