Dolphin bycatch in commercial fisheries causes significant welfare harm and mortality, with hundreds of thousands of dolphins dying annually as unwanted catch in nets intended for other species.
Dolphin bycatch mortality represents one of the most significant and poorly publicised welfare crises in global fisheries. Dolphins drowning in nets after prolonged entanglement suffer extreme distress - cetaceans are air-breathing animals with strong group bonds, and death by net entanglement involves both physical suffering from struggling and drowning, and the social distress of separation from pod members. The scale - hundreds of thousands of deaths annually - is staggering. Effective mitigation requires a combination of mandatory acoustic deterrents, time-area closures during peak dolphin presence, and real-time observer coverage to document and enforce bycatch limits.