Harbor porpoises have rebounded in a big way off the coast of California. Their populations have recovered dramatically since the end of state set-gillnet fisheries that years ago entangled and killed them in the nearshore waters they frequent. Set-gillnets have been prohibited in inshore state waters for more than a decade. These coastal set-gillnet fisheries are distinct from federally-managed offshore drift-gillnet fisheries.
Read more about this new research, which indicates coastal set-gillnets had taken a greater toll on harbor porpoise than previously realized.
