What is bottom trawling and why is it bad?

Bottom trawling, the practice of dragging nets across the sea floor to scoop up fish, is smoothing out the seabed and kicking up sediment, seriously disrupting marine ecosystems, according to a new study. A shrimp trawler drags its nets in Bastian Bay, near Empire, La., in August, 2010.

Why is bottom trawling illegal?

The Pacific and North Pacific Fishery Management Councils banned bottom trawling in more than 840,000 square miles of seafloor in the Pacific, Bering Sea, and the Arctic. The state of California banned bottom trawling for spot prawns to reduce discards and increase prawn catches for fishermen using more selective gear.

What are bottom trawls used for?

Bottom trawls are a type of mobile fishing gear consisting of very large nets that are dragged on the seafloor to catch groundfish and other species. Bottom trawls are used in virtually all East Coast, West Coast and Alaska fisheries to catch shrimp and fish such as cod, flounder and rockfish.

Is bottom trawling bad for the environment?

Yet bottom trawls and other kinds of unselective fishing gear cause harm to other fisheries and to the marine environment by catching juvenile fish, damaging the seafloor, and leading to overfishing. Bottom trawl nets can also harm coral reefs, sharks, and sea turtles that attract valuable tourism to Belize.

What countries use bottom trawling?

Deep-sea bottom trawling on seamounts and other underwater features. Countries whose vessels have continued to deep-sea bottom-trawl fish on seamounts, oceanic ridge systems and other underwater features on the high seas in recent years are New Zealand, Japan, Cook Islands, Spain, Korea, and the Faroe Islands.

What countries have banned bottom trawling?

Countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada and Malaysia have established no-trawl zones in inshore waters to protect marine resources. Indonesia has implemented a trawling ban that extends across the entire country. “There was a lot of resistance to the trawling ban in Hong Kong at first,” said Dr.

What species are targeted by bottom trawlers?

Midwater trawling catches pelagic fish such as anchovies and mackerel, whereas bottom trawling targets both bottom-living fish (groundfish) and semi-pelagic species such as cod, squid, shrimp, and rockfish.

What countries do bottom trawling?

Why is trawling so harmful?

Trawling destroys the natural seafloor habitat by essentially rototilling the seabed. All of the bottom-dwelling plants and animals are affected, if not outright destroyed by tearing up root systems or animal burrows.

Is trawling legal in the US?

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has imposed a permanent ban on bottom trawling in 150,000 square miles of federally-controlled waters off the West coast of the United States.

Is bottom trawling legal in the United States?

The new regulations apply in federal waters that extend from three miles to 200 miles off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington. California and Washington have banned trawling in state waters that extend three miles from the shore. Other types of fishing are allowed in the no-trawl zones.