Marine Mammal Bycatch Reduction Strategies

Marine mammals including dolphins, seals, and whales are caught as bycatch in commercial fisheries worldwide.

Key Facts

An estimated 300,000 whales, dolphins, and porpoises die in fishing gear each year
Harbor porpoises are particularly vulnerable to gillnet entanglement in northern Europe
Large whales become entangled in vertical lines from trap fisheries, causing months of suffering
Pingers — acoustic deterrents — reduce cetacean bycatch in gillnets by up to 90%
Modified fishing gear and spatial closures can eliminate bycatch in some fishery-species combinations

Welfare Considerations

Marine mammal bycatch causes welfare harms that range from rapid drowning to months of suffering from entanglement wounds. Large whales caught in fishing lines may drag gear for hundreds of miles as the lines cut into their bodies, causing progressive injury and eventually death. Dolphins and porpoises drowned in nets experience a terrifying rapid death. The scale — hundreds of thousands of individuals annually — makes bycatch one of the most significant sources of marine mammal suffering caused by human activity. Effective technical and spatial solutions exist but require regulatory will to implement.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood certified from fisheries with low marine mammal bycatch
Advocate for mandatory pinger use in cetacean-risky gillnet fisheries
Support large whale entanglement response programs and research
Donate to organizations developing and promoting whale-safe fishing gear
Advocate for fishing gear modifications in waters with high marine mammal bycatch rates