The Trawl Supremacy

OceanCare has just released an eye-opening report that highlights the devastating impacts of bottom trawling on our marine ecosystems. This harmful fishing practice not only wipes out marine life and damages habitats but also accelerates climate change by releasing stored carbon from the seabed. Banning destructive fisheries like bottom trawling is therefore among the core demands of our Because Our Planet Is Blue campaign.

Our report, titled The Trawl Supremacy: Hegemony of Destructive Bottom Trawl Fisheries and Some of the Management Solutions calls on the European governments to speed up banning bottom trawling at least in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as required under the EU's Fisheries Action Plan and transition to more sustainable fishing practices. It furthermore asks for global action addressing this practice accordingly. The three authors of the report, Giovanni Bearzi, Silvia Bonizzoni and Randall R. Reeves, have decades of practice investigating and observing the conflict between fisheries and marine wildlife.

Key Findings from the Report:

• Severe biodiversity loss: Bottom trawling devastates marine habitats, reducing biodiversity and threatening the survival of species, including sea turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals.
• Climate impact: The disruption of seabeds releases stored carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and accelerating climate change.
• Long-term ecosystem damage: Scientific evidence shows that bottom trawling depletes marine biomass and leaves long-lasting scars on the seabed, compromising the future productivity of marine ecosystems.
• Unsustainable fishing practices: While trawling provides food and jobs, the ecological damage it causes far outweighs its benefits, threatening the livelihoods of small-scale fishers and the long-term health of the ocean.