#bycatch — Public Fediverse posts

Fishing nets main cause of death among Cornwall's stranded common dolphins https://phys.org/news/2026-08-fishing-nets-main-death-cornwall.html 🐬 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Dolphins #Science #Bycatch

UNESCO gives Mexico 6 months to show 'concrete actions' to protect remaining vaquitas https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/unesco-gives-mexico-6-months-remaining-vaquitas/ 🐬 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Porpoise #Vaquita #Bycatch #Extinction #Science

Okay, here's a cracker for #ThrowbackThursday - this photo was taken in 1993 by an old buddy Pete MacDonald from Findochty on the Moray Coast. I was helping him repair his old boat's even older diesel engine (hence the manky overalls) when we got word that a young dolphin had been trapped and drowned in a poaching net. We recovered the young dolphin who, only 5 years old was around 9 feet in length. Me beside the dolphin for scale (I'm 6 feet). #Bycatch #Dolphin #Nature

NZ Lush's Adorable New Soap Highlights Critical Plight Of The Māui Dolphin https://www.mindfood.com/article/lushs-adorable-new-soap-highlights-critical-plight-of-the-maui-dolphin/ 🐬 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Dolphins #Bycatch #Extinction

Pixels preserve world’s most endangered marine mammal, the vaquita https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1132021 🐬 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Porpoise #Science #Vaquita #Extinction #Bycatch

#BottomTrawling is scraping #oceans of wildlife
Gears operate by dragging large weighted nets across the #ocean floor (some as wide as a 45-story building is tall), sweeping up most of the life they encounter along the way and destroying habitat.
Hundreds of thousands of #bottomtrawlers operate all over the world, often dependent on #subsidies, implicated in human rights violations and exacerbating #climatechange.
https://theconversation.com/bottom-trawling-is-scraping-oceans-of-wildlife-280780 #fish #fishing #bycatch

‘By catch’ and the devastation of our oceans

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/10/bycatch-toll-british-marine-life-analysis

#Ocean #Bycatch #Waste #Fishing #Environment

"1,000 harbour porpoises and common dolphins killed annually, 10,000 seabirds and 500 seals. Six humpback whales and 30 minke whales were also found dead in Scottish creel ropes." - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/10/bycatch-toll-british-marine-life-analysis this is just obscene #bycatch

SCAM OF THE EYE: FLOCKING FOES FOILED

New research shows fake predator eyes on fishing nets stop working as seabirds learn they are not real. This affects fishing safety for birds.

#SeabirdSafety, #FishingNets, #AnimalBehavior, #Bycatch, #Conservation

https://newsletter.tf/fake-predator-eyes-fail-to-deter-seabirds/

Seabirds are learning that fake predator eyes on fishing nets are not real, meaning the deterrent effect lasts only a short time.

#SeabirdSafety, #FishingNets, #AnimalBehavior, #Bycatch, #Conservation
https://newsletter.tf/fake-predator-eyes-fail-to-deter-seabirds/

Entanglement injuries cause prolonged suffering for whales and dolphins; early intervention is crucial https://theconversation.com/entanglement-injuries-cause-prolonged-suffering-for-whales-and-dolphins-early-intervention-is-crucial-283673 🐋 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Whales #Science #Dolphins #Bycatch

Entanglement is an animal welfare issue- Injuries cause prolonged suffering for whales and dolphins – early intervention is crucial

"Globally, scientists estimate 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises are killed each year due to entanglement or incidental capture (bycatch)."

"In one recent Australian case, rescuers removed hundreds of metres of fishing line, hooks, rope and buoys from a young whale whose movement and feeding ability had already been severely compromised."

"Even when animals are successfully disentangled, stress, impaired feeding, chronic pain and severe infection from entanglement injuries may already be irreversible."

"Rescue is not simply whether the animal is cut free from the net but whether the intervention allows full recovery afterwards." >>
https://theconversation.com/entanglement-injuries-cause-prolonged-suffering-for-whales-and-dolphins-early-intervention-is-crucial-283673
#fishing #entanglement #traps #boats #dumping #bycatch #MarineMammals #injuries #septicaemia #whales #dolphins #strandings #birds #wildlife #Biodiverisity #conservation #garbage #ocean

How new #fishing tech can reduce #bycatch of #turtles and other creatures
Nets equipped with water bottles and other tricks can help save some species, while allowing #fisherman to still catch others
Accidental harvest is known as bycatch, and every year it causes the death of millions of marine animals, including whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles and seabirds. Nets and gear can asphyxiate animals or cause fatal injuries; even when animals are tossed back to sea, they die
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2026/new-fishing-tech-cuts-bycatch-turtles-marine-creatures

How new fishing tech can reduce #bycatch of turtles and other creatures - https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/how-new-fishing-tech-can-reduce-bycatch-of-turtles-and-other-creatures/ " Specially equipped nets can help save some species, while allowing fisherman to still catch others. "

⟦Fichefet et al.⟧ Assessing the risk of whale entanglement in pot fisheries in Irish waters https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2026.1749710/full 🐋 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Whales #Science #Bycatch

#extinction #dolphins #bycatch

"Groups File New Lawsuit to Prevent Extinction of Earth’s Rarest Marine Dolphins

Suit seeks U.S. ban on New Zealand seafood as fishing fleets harm rare Māui and Hector’s dolphins

Earthjustice and Law of the Wild filed a legal action on behalf of the grassroots group Māui and Hector’s Dolphin Defenders to protect the rarest marine dolphins in the world. The new legal claim asks the court to order seafood import protections to prevent extinction of New Zealand’s Māui dolphins and their close relatives, Hector’s dolphins.

Background on this case

This recent lawsuit follows on the heels of an action Earthjustice and Law of the Wild filed in December 2024 on behalf of Māui and Hector’s Dolphin Defenders to enforce the U.S Marine Mammal Protection Act, which requires the U.S. government to ban seafood imports from any foreign fishery that excessively harms marine mammals.

The 2024 suit contended that New Zealand fishing fleets are driving the critically endangered Māui dolphin to extinction, with estimates of only 30 to 50 left on Earth, and very few breeding females. Fifty years ago, there were 2,000 Maui dolphins. Since then, the population has plummeted by over 97 percent.

The closely related Hector’s dolphins are also dwindling – only about 15,000 Hector’s dolphins remain, down from a population of about 50,000 in 1975.

The fishing fleets operating along the West Coast of New Zealand’s North Island don’t intentionally catch Māui or Hector’s dolphins, but the marine mammals get caught when fishers target commercial seafood species. The fishers use large nets that hang in the water for days or drag through the sea, scooping up everything in their path. Even if the dolphins are freed from the nets and do not drown, they can suffer serious injuries while struggling to reach the surface to breathe.

In August 2025, after reviewing all the evidence, the Court of International Trade ruled that the U.S. government’s decision to allow seafood imports from two of New Zealand’s west coast fisheries was arbitrary and unlawful.

But the victory was short-lived. Just days later, the U.S. government issued another decision, allowing all seafood exports from New Zealand to the United States. This decision permits the U.S. market to support not just the fisheries impacting critically endangered Māui dolphins, but also equally problematic fisheries that catch Hector’s dolphins and other marine mammals. The U.S. government’s decision that New Zealand’s bycatch levels are 'sustainable' is based on the same flawed reasoning and evidence that the Court of International Trade had previously found severely deficient The new legal action filed last week challenges that decision."

https://earthjustice.org/press/2026/groups-file-new-lawsuit-to-prevent-extinction-of-earths-rarest-marine-dolphins

UN treaty to protect ‘extraordinary’ marine life due to come into force https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/16/un-treaty-to-protect-extraordinary-marine-life-due-to-come-into-force 🐋 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Whales #Dolphins #Bycatch #Science

Better understanding accidental dolphin catches in the Bay of Biscay in order to reduce them https://www.ifremer.fr/en/press/better-understanding-accidental-dolphin-catches-bay-biscay-order-reduce-them 🐬 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Dolphins #Science #Bycatch

Entangled North Atlantic right whale severely injured with survival in question, experts say https://www.neaq.org/about-us/press-room/press-releases/entangled-north-atlantic-right-whale-severely-injured-with-survival-in-question-experts-say/ 🐋 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Whales #Science #Bycatch

Fishing ban in Bay of Biscay will return in 2026 to protect dolphins https://www.euronews.com/green/2025/12/24/bay-of-biscay-fishing-ban-to-return-in-2026-after-proving-successful-at-reducing-dolphin-d 🐬 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Dolphins #Science #Bycatch

⟦Shank et al.⟧ A decision support tool for assessing entanglement risk to protected species from fixed-gear fisheries with applications to North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in the Northwest Atlantic https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1549345/full 🐋 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Whales #Science #Bycatch

NOAA reports spike in whale entanglements, latest bad news in year of threats in and out of the ocean https://phys.org/news/2025-10-noaa-spike-whale-entanglements-latest.html 🐋 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Whales #Science #Entanglement #Bycatch

Scientists spot vaquita calves in Mexico, fuelling hope for the world’s rarest marine mammal https://apnews.com/video/scientists-spot-vaquita-calves-in-mexico-fueling-hope-for-the-worlds-rarest-marine-mammal-f1928d6587784b019aa089fa9668766f 🐬 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Vaquita #Porpoise #Science #Bycatch #Extinction

Rescuers free humpback whale entangled in 137 metres of rope near Nanaimo, B.C. https://www.cbc.ca/lite/story/9.6950786 🐋 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Whales #Science #Bycatch #Entanglement

Study reveals decline in North Atlantic dolphin lifespan and population growth https://phys.org/news/2025-10-north-atlantic-dolphins-dying-younger.html 🐬 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Dolphins #Science #Bycatch

It's time to save #whales again
July 22, House #NaturalResources #subcommittee, GOP Rep. #NickBegich (AK) introduced draft legislation that would scale back #MarineMammal Protection Act. Among other things, it would limit ability of #US gov to take action against “incidental take,” killing of whales, #dolphins and #seals by sonic blasts from #oil exploration, ship and boat strikes or by drowning as accidental catch (#bycatch) in #fishing gear.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2025-08-16/whales-marine-mammal-endangered-species-environmental-protection-agency
https://archive.ph/b9Ye1