Hunting thumb|Traditional catch of harbour porpoise by lancing in Bay of Fundy Porpoises and other smaller cetaceans have traditionally been hunted in many areas, at least in Asia, Europe and North America, for their meat and blubber. A dominant hunting technique is drive hunting, where a pod of animals is driven together with boats and usually into a bay or onto a beach. Their escape is prevented by closing off the route to the ocean with other boats or nets. This type of fishery for harbour porpoises is best documented from the Danish straits, where it occurred until the end of the 19th century (it was banned in 1899), and again during the shortages in World War I and World War II. The Inuit in the Arctic hunt harbour porpoises by shooting and drive hunt for Dall's porpoise still takes place in Japan. The number of individuals taken each year is in the thousands, although a quota of around 17,000 per year is in effect today making it the largest direct hunt of any cetacean species in the world and the sustainability of the hunt has been questioned.
hunting thumb|traditional catch of harbour porpoise by lancing in bay of fundy porpoises and other smaller cetaceans have traditionally been hunted in many areas at least in asia europe and north america for their meat and blubber a dominant hunting technique is drive hunting where a pod of animals is driven together with boats and usually into a bay or onto a beach their escape is prevented by closing off the route to the ocean with other boats or nets this type of fishery for harbour porpoises is best documented from the danish straits where it occurred until the end of the 19th century (it was banned in 1899) and again during the shortages in world war i and world war ii the inuit in the arctic hunt harbour porpoises by shooting and drive hunt for dall's porpoise still takes place in japan the number of individuals taken each year is in the thousands although a quota of around 17000 per year is in effect today making it the largest direct hunt of any cetacean species in the world and the sustainability of the hunt has been questioned