Harbor porpoises are among the most frequently bycaught cetaceans in commercial fisheries, and acoustic deterrent devices are proving effective in reducing entanglement mortality.
Drowning entanglement in fishing gear represents one of the most serious acute welfare harms affecting wild cetaceans. Harbor porpoises are especially vulnerable because their echolocation does not reliably detect monofilament nets, and their coastal distribution overlaps heavily with active gillnet fisheries. Acoustic deterrents are one of the clearest evidence-based solutions in fisheries bycatch reduction — they work, they are affordable, and they are commercially available. The welfare case for rapid, widespread pinger adoption is compelling. Bycatch mortality also creates population-level conservation concerns, particularly for the critically endangered Baltic subspecies. Effective regulation and enforcement of pinger requirements is urgently needed.