Burmeister's porpoises are threatened as bycatch in a variety of fisheries throughout their range; the extent of which is not well documented. The largest takes appear to occur in Peru and have been estimated to exceed 450 per year. They are also shot or harpooned or taken in nets for human consumption or for use as bait for crab fisheries, blurring the barrier between bycatch deaths and directed fishery mortality.
Burmeister's porpoises are found only in the coastal waters of South America, from southern Brazil south around the southern coastline of Tierra del Fuego and north to the Atlantic side of northern Peru. Within its range it inhabits coastal waters usually 150 metres or less in depth and is frequently seen in rivers and estuaries.
No quantitative abundance estimates exist for Burmeister's porpoises.
The IUCN considers Phocoena spinipinnis as a "Data Deficient" species.