An Indo-Pacific finless dolphin washed ashore dead on the coast of Gwadar, Balochistan, on Monday after being “caught and entangled” in a fishing net, according to Gwadar Development Authority Deputy Director Environment Abdur Raheem.
“The fishermen brought the dolphin ashore without freeing it from the fishing net and then left it there because it had no commercial value,” the official explained, noting that dolphins play an important role in the marine ecology.
Meanwhile, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Technical Advisor Muhammad Moazzam Khan described the occurrence as the first case of porpoise entanglement and mortality in Pakistan caused by bottom-set gillnets, which are used to harvest catfish, small croakers, and other marine animals.
Dead dolphin washes ashore on the Gwadar shoreline.
“These porpoises live near the coast and, as a result, frequently become entangled in fishing nets,” Khan said, citing the species’ dwindling numbers in the country.
Last year, at least six Indo-Pacific finless porpoises died as a result of entanglement in gillnets in Pakistan, three of which washed up in Gwadar, he said, using WWF statistics.
This is not the first occurrence where fishing nets have caused the death of a marine species.
