Dolphin Bycatch and Tuna Fishing Welfare

Dolphins are caught and killed as bycatch in tuna fisheries worldwide, causing suffering on a scale that consumer choices can help reduce.

Key Facts

The Eastern Tropical Pacific tuna fishery set on dolphin schools killed an estimated 6 million dolphins between 1959 and 1991
The 1990 Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act created the US "dolphin-safe" label standard
Purse seine nets set on dolphin schools still catch tuna legally in some countries despite the label's implication
Approximately 80,000 dolphins and small cetaceans are killed as bycatch globally each year across all fisheries
Vaquita porpoise (fewer than 10 individuals remaining) faces extinction primarily from gillnet bycatch in Mexico
Acoustic deterrents (pingers) on nets reduce dolphin and porpoise bycatch by 50-90% in small-scale fisheries
Observer coverage on fishing vessels is required for credible bycatch monitoring but remains below 10% in many fleets
The Mediterranean Sea has among the highest dolphin bycatch rates globally relative to population size

Welfare Considerations

Dolphins caught in nets experience acute stress and drowning — cetaceans are air-breathing mammals that die of asphyxiation when entangled. The suffering of a dolphin caught in a purse seine or gillnet is intense: the animal struggles against entanglement, exhausts itself, and drowns over minutes to hours. For highly social, cognitively complex animals with strong family bonds, bycatch also disrupts pod structures and bereaved family members show prolonged behavioural changes consistent with grief. Consumer and regulatory action on bycatch represents one of the most tractable marine mammal welfare interventions available — reducing demand for non-selective fishing methods through certification and labelling.

What You Can Do

Choose tuna products certified by the Marine Stewardship Council or verified dolphin-safe programmes
Reduce tuna consumption and consider plant-based alternatives
Advocate for mandatory observer coverage on all commercial fishing vessels
Support WWF and Oceana campaigns for bycatch reduction regulations
Donate to vaquita emergency conservation efforts through organisations such as Sea Shepherd
Ask supermarkets to publish bycatch data for their seafood supply chains