An Indo-Pacific finless dolphin washed up dead at Gwadar’s coast in Balochistan after being “caught and entangled” in a fishing net on Monday, confirmed Gwadar Development Authority’s Deputy Director Environment Abdur Raheem.

“The fishermen brought the dolphin ashore without freeing it from the fishing net and then left it there as it didn’t have any commercial value,” the official said adding that dolphins play a significant role in the marine ecosystem.

Meanwhile, World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF)Technical Advisor Muhammad Moazzam Khan termed the incident as the first case of the entanglement and mortality of porpoises in Pakistan due to bottom-set gillnet which is used for catching catfish, small croakers and other marine species.

“These porpoises live near the coast and, therefore, frequently get entangled in the fishing nets,” Khan said while warning of the species’ declining population in the country.

Last year, at least six Indo-Pacific finless porpoises died due to entanglement in gillnets in Pakistan, of which three had washed up in Gwadar, he added citing data available with the WWF.

This is not the first incident where fishing nets have caused the death of a marine species, as a 27-foot-long Bryde’s whale had washed up dead near Balochistan’s coast in a remote area of Raini Hor between Pasni and Shumal Bundar.