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Over 300,000 dolphins, whales, and porpoises die each year after becoming entangled in active and ghost fishing gear. Marine Connection is committed to reducing these bycatch deaths.

Fishing gear entanglement is, by far the most serious and biggest threat to both small and large cetaceans in our ocean today. Not only is it a conservation issue but also a considerable welfare concern as even those that escape or are successfully freed, often die later due to injury or infection.

Thousands of miles of legal fishing nets are trawled through the oceans daily, some so enormous they would be able to fit in 10 Boeing 747 Jumbo Jets, trapping everything in their path. Even ghost nets – fishing gear that has been lost, abandoned, or discarded – can still entangle cetaceans as they drift endlessly for hundreds of miles, continuing to cause harm long after the boats have left them behind.

Hundreds of thousands of cetaceans die each year after getting caught up in fishing gear, and this damage cannot be overestimated:   

  • More than 70% of the North Atlantic right whale population bear scars from previous fishing gear entanglements
  • The world’s smallest dolphin, the Maui, in New Zealand now number less than 50
  • There are now fewer than 10 of the world’s smallest porpoise, the Vaquita, in the Gulf of California
  • Bycatch due to fishing gear also threatens 11 of the 13 species of small cetaceans listed as ‘critically endangered’ on the IUCN Red List

Both the world’s smallest dolphin and the world’s smallest porpoise are now facing extinction because of net entanglement. We cannot allow that to happen. National and international action is urgently needed as several cetacean species and populations will be lost in the next few decades if these deaths continue.

bycatch, net entanglement, fishing practices, dolphins, whales, cetaceans, sustainable fishing, plant based seafood
bycatch, net entanglement, fishing, baiji, vaquita, dolphins, whales, porpoises, longline, gillnet
READ OUR REPORT ON BYCATCH AND CETACEANS

Positive work is being done around the world to develop new and innovative fishing gear and methods that would greatly reduce the impact on dolphins, whales, and porpoises. However, Marine Connection believes our strongest tool on this issue is public awareness.  Consumers have the power to end this threat. Seafood products that carry a sustainable fishing certification or ‘Dolphin Safe’ label do not 100% guarantee that the techniques used have not caused the death of dolphins or whales in the process.

The solution is simple. If you love these remarkable creatures, the single most important thing you can do to ensure their future is to leave all fish off your plate and choose plant-based products instead.

Less demand for fish means less deadly fishing gear and a more secure future for dolphins, whales, and porpoises.

Test your knowledge with our bycatch quiz