This species is listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (https://www.iucnredlist.org/).
This species was once considered as subspecies of Sousa chinensis. After enough evidence from molecular and morphological studies it is now treated as separate species. S. plumbea is sometimes errenously referred to Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin, however, this name is now restricted to only S. chinensis.