Shock Horror, Trawling is Bad

A study by Hong Kong scientists has found that a ban on bottom trawling practices allows marine populations to recover.

Trawling has been prohibited for two and a half years in coastal areas and researchers have identified a 235% increase in organisms found in sediment samples.

Bottom trawling also uplifts nutrient rich sediment into the water, which deprives the species that live on the seabed of their food sources. Compared to a study in 2012, the scientists noted a 29% increase in organic matter in the sediment.

Alongside this they also found a 76% increase in species diversity in the seabed sediment. Meaning more animals were present as well as a greater variety.

Bottom trawling practices are widespread and by their design indiscriminate in what they catch. The fishing technique means dragging weighted nets along the seabed before collecting the valuable catch and throwing away whatever is left.

Currently 97% of the UK’s 76 Marine Protection Areas (MPAs) are being trawled.

There is a consultation ongoing with the UK Government to ban bottom trawling from 4 of these 76 areas. Thankfully, one of the proposed areas is the Dogger Bank, an area some 12,000km2 which is vital for cod, puffins and porpoises.