Dolphins are caught and killed as bycatch in fisheries worldwide in large numbers every year. Understanding the welfare harms and mitigation tools available is essential for reducing this preventable suffering.
Bycatch drowning is among the more prolonged and distressing forms of wildlife mortality. Dolphins are air-breathing mammals; entanglement in nets forces them to struggle to reach the surface. As oxygen is depleted, struggling intensifies before the animal loses consciousness. In social species like common dolphins, an entangled individual may be accompanied by pod-mates that cannot assist. Animals that escape entanglement with injuries — fin amputations, deep lacerations — face long-term welfare consequences affecting feeding and social function. The scale of this suffering — hundreds of thousands of individuals annually — makes cetacean bycatch one of the most significant unaddressed welfare crises in the ocean.