Marine mammal catches in pelagic trawl fisheries in the North East Atlantic were studied between 1994-1995. Eleven fisheries were investigated, with dolphins being incidentally caught in four of them. Grey seals were also caught in one fishery. The study found that the rate of cetacean bycatch in these fisheries ranged from 1.1 to 1.5 dolphins per 100 hours of trawling. Visual inspection of the trawls was not reliable for detecting cetacean bycatch. The study suggests that more research is needed to accurately assess the overall bycatch rates of marine mammals in these fisheries.