These guidelines, in their full text format, are intended to provide fisheries managers at any level, as well as those who work with fisheries to improve their sustainability, with bestpractice methodology on the safe and humane handling and release of small cetaceans accidentally bycaught in fishing gear. They are intended to enable managers and ‘trainers’, as well as anyone involved with fisheries policy or management to understand the rationale and need for ‘best practice’, as well as the science that supports the recommended practices.