Minke whales are the most commonly bycaught large whale in European waters. Their entanglement in fishing nets causes drowning and traumatic injury with significant welfare consequences.
Drowning in fishing nets is one of the most welfare-damaging deaths a marine mammal can experience. Minke whales struggle against entanglement for extended periods, causing lactic acidosis, tissue damage, and exhaustion before asphyxiation. Even rescued individuals often die from the physiological effects of the struggle. The combination of bycatch mortality and continued commercial whaling makes minke whale welfare a compound challenge requiring action at multiple levels.