Grey seals are frequently caught as bycatch in fishing gear, causing drowning, injury, and entanglement that represents a significant welfare and conservation concern in the North Atlantic.
Drowning in fishing nets is one of the more distressing deaths a marine mammal can experience. Seals entering set nets detect the entanglement and struggle intensely before exhaustion and drowning — the process can take several minutes. Ghost gear — abandoned fishing equipment continuing to catch and kill wildlife — is particularly insidious because it operates without any human presence or oversight, creating sustained welfare harm long after a net is lost. Entangled seals that survive carry injuries ranging from rope lacerations to severed flippers. British Divers Marine Life Rescue teams respond to hundreds of entanglement cases annually in UK waters. The welfare case for mandatory pinger use on set nets is strong — these devices are inexpensive, effective, and already required in some fisheries. Reducing total fishing effort and requiring gear retrieval certification would further reduce incidents.