12 March 2026: A new study on the use of pingers to reduce cetacean by-catch in Iceland

A study by Jusufovski and Sigurðsson, titled “First trials of commercially available pingers for cetacean bycatch reduction in Icelandic bottom set gillnet fishery”, was published in the Fisheries Research Journal in January 2026.

By-catch (the accidental capture in fisheries) is among the largest threats to marine mammal conservation. Various measures have been developed to reduce marine mammal by-catch, including pingers, which are noise devices used to deter marine mammals from fishing nets. However, the effectiveness of pingers in fisheries may vary by species and location.

Iceland possesses one of the largest Nordic fishing fleets, with 1,470 fishing vessels. The cod gillnet fishery is one of the country’s main fisheries but has a notable by-catch of marine mammals, especially harbour porpoises (with an estimated annual by-catch of 559 individuals).

Jusufovski and Sigurðsson tested three different types of pingers in Icelandic cod gillnet fishing boats, to analyse their efficiency in preventing by-catch. These included a Banana pinger (a banana-shaped pinger that emits randomised, high-pitched sounds), a standard PAL (Porpoise ALert device, a pinger that emits recordings of harbour porpoise alarm calls) and a wideband PAL (a modified PAL that covers a broader range of sound frequencies).

Throughout the study, 48 harbour porpoises and five white-beaked dolphins were by-caught, with the banana and standard PAL pingers failing to reduce by-catches. However, the wideband PAL was highly efficient: the nets equipped with the device recorded no by-catch. The authors note that these trials serve as a baseline to understanding the effects of the three different pingers, but that more research will be needed to understand the conditions that led to the poor performance of Banana and PAL devices.

Read the full article by Jusufovski and Sigurðsson HERE.

Photo credit: Florian Graner