Top Harbour Porpoise Fishing Countries

The harbour porpoise (*Phocoena phocoena*) is a small cetacean found in coastal and temperate waters of the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. Unlike true fish, harbour porpoises are marine mammals, but historically, they have been subject to targeted hunting and, more recently, incidental capture (bycatch) in fishing gear. The primary countries associated with harbour porpoise harvests have included Denmark, Greenland, and Norway, where small-scale hunting for meat and blubber occurred, especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, direct hunting is rare and largely regulated or banned, but bycatch remains a significant threat, particularly in gillnet fisheries operated by countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands. Conservation concerns have led to international agreements and stricter regulations to protect this vulnerable species, with most modern "harvest" occurring unintentionally as bycatch rather than through targeted fishing.

Data from FAO. 2025. Global Capture Production. In: Fisheries and Aquaculture.