While taking a morning stroll on the beach in the gentle light of the rising sun, one can hear the fishing boats chugging from the harbor onto the open sea.
They fit perfectly in this calming atmosphere, greeting a new, exciting day. But if we take a closer look at the practices they perform for fishing, the hidden scars beneath the waves come to life and reveal the cruelty that lies beneath these deceptive fishing boats.
Did you know that over 1 billion people around the globe are reliant on fish as their primary source of nutrition?In interactions with this stand ten to twelve percent of the world’s population earns a living by fishing, most of which is located in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The official global fishing fleet numbers around 4.7 million vessels, the true count, though, likely surpasses these numbers due to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
Industrial fishing, which operates on a vast scale and involves fleets capable of catching up to 7 million kilograms of fish over months at sea, employs around 500,000 people. Meanwhile, traditional fishing supports nearly 12 million individuals. However, unofficial and illegal fishing continues to undermine global fisheries, severely impacting marine ecosystems through bycatch, depletion, and habitat destruction.
Among fishing methods, bottom trawling is noticeably the most destructive one of all. For this technique, the fishing vessels are equipped with immense, weighted nets dragged along the sea floor and can reach between 50 and 100 meters in depth. The biggest vessels can traverse the sea for a period of several months. When the nets get dragged along the sea floor, they wipe out everything in their way. While cod, shrimp, and flatfish are the main targets of this devilish method, seagrass, sponges, corals, and algae get destroyed. The impact on the seabed’s flora and fauna is comparable to dynamite, leaving marine life that’s vital for the ecosystem in devastation. For example, fast-growing seaweeds have faster reproduction than long-living corals, which can rarely recover again, once destroyed. Coral reefs, which sustain about 25% of oceanic life.
Target species and law enforcement
The main target species for bottom trawl are cod, shrimps, and flatfish, and despite the destruction through the contact with the bottom they are also known for their low selectivity; on 1 kg species come 10 to 20 kilos by-catch. By-catch rarely has commercial value, so it is sometimes sold as fishmeal or, most of the time, thrown back overboard severely injured or dead (Discarding). Bottom trawling is, therefore, one of the links in a chain of violations committed on sea, next to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, severely harming global fish stocks. 55% of the world’s fish stocks are overfished or collapsed.
Bottom trawling is banned in several EU marine areas. For example, it is banned in waters deeper than 800 meters in the northeast Atlantic and around biodiversity-rich areas near the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands. Additional restrictions exist in many regions: Poland prohibits trawling within six nautical miles of the Baltic Sea coast, while Sweden enforces bans in the three to four-nautical mile zone around its entire coastline.
When it comes to the Mediterranean, Illegal bottom trawling is reportedly prevalent within marine protected areas (MPAs), impacting biodiversity and fragile ecosystems. Despite fishing restrictions, trawlers operate illegally within these zones, causing harm to seafloor habitats and reducing fish stocks. Enforcement challenges and inadequate penalties allow trawlers to persist, highlighting a need for improved monitoring and stricter regulations to protect marine life within these conservation areas. In the EU, all fresh or frozen fish sold at retail must be labeled with the fishing method used, allowing consumers to make informed decisions about their purchases. However, this labeling requirement does not apply to processed seafood, such as canned, cooked or smoked products. By providing this information, consumers can choose to support more sustainable fishing practices, such as avoiding fish caught by bottom trawling. Consumers have considerable influence through their purchasing decisions. Choosing seafood from artisanal and selective fishing methods or not eating fish and other marine life at all, can reduce the demand for fish caught by trawling, which often results in by-catch.
Glossary: Bycatch: Non-targeted marine species caught unintentionally during commercial fishing operations. Bycatch often includes fish, sea turtles, marine mammals, and seabirds, which are frequently discarded back into the sea, often dead or injured. Bottom Trawling: A fishing method where large, weighted nets are dragged across the sea floor, targeting species like cod, shrimp, and flatfish. This practice is highly destructive, as it devastates seabed ecosystems by removing vegetation and other marine organisms. Collapsed Fish Stocks: Fish populations have declined so drastically that their chances of recovery are minimal. Collapsed stocks may require extensive conservation measures and can take years, if not decades, to recover, impacting both biodiversity and fishing communities reliant on these species. Discarding: The act of throwing unwanted catch, including bycatch, back into the ocean. Discarded species are often dead or severely injured, contributing to wastage and ecological imbalance. Fishing Fleet: The total number of fishing vessels (boats or ships) operating in a region or globally. The global fishing fleet includes both large industrial vessels and smaller, traditional fishing boats. Fish Stocks: Populations of fish species within a particular area. When fish stocks are overfished, the population cannot replenish naturally, threatening the sustainability of the species. Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing: Fishing activities that violate conservation and management regulations or occur in unmonitored waters. IUU fishing is a major contributor to global overfishing. Industrial Fishing: Large-scale fishing operations conducted by commercial fishing fleets, often equipped with advanced technology and capable of harvesting large quantities of fish. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs): Ocean zones designated for conservation and management, where activities like fishing are restricted to protect biodiversity and ecosystem health. Overfished: The state of a fish stock that has been harvested at a rate faster than it can replenish. Overfished stocks face a high risk of population collapse. Traditional Fishing: Smaller-scale, often artisanal fishing practices typically conducted by individuals or small communities. Traditional fishing methods are generally more sustainable and selective. Trawling Ban: Legal prohibitions on trawling in specific marine areas to protect vulnerable ecosystems. In the EU, for instance, bottom trawling is banned in waters below 800 meters in certain biodiversity-rich zones. Unreported Fishing: Fishing that is not recorded or reported, often leading to inaccurate data on fish stocks and undermining conservation efforts.
Sources: Blue Tunisia (https://bluetunisia.com/6692-2022/illegal-fishing-tunisia-trawling-boats-the-new-pirates-of-the-mediterranean-sea/) Client Earth (https://www.clientearth.org/latest/news/what-is-bottom-trawling/) Europe Oceana (https://europe.oceana.org/faqs-bottom-trawling/) Gonstalla, Eva (2018) Das Ozean Buch. Über die Bedrohung der Meere. München: oekom Verlag. Mongabay (https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/illegal-bottom-trawling-widespread-inside-mediterranean-marine-protected-areas/)
text by: Carolina Leiter