todropscience: BOTTOM TRAWLING IS DESTROYING DEEP-SEA FISH POPULATION A new study using reconstructe

todropscience: BOTTOM TRAWLING IS DESTROYING DEEP-SEA FISH POPULATION A new study using reconstructed catch data reveals that in the past 60+ years, the practice of towing giant fishing nets along the sea floor has caused the extraction of 25 million tonnes of fish that live 400 metres or more below sea level leading to the collapse of many of those fish populations. The study is published in Frontiers in Marine Science. Deep-sea fish species are targeted globally by bottom trawling. The fish species captured are often characterized by longevity, low fecundity and slow growth making them vulnerable to overfishing. Also, bottom trawling is known to remove vast amounts of non-target species, including habitat forming deep-sea corals and sponges. Researchers examined the state of 72 deep-sea fish species caught by bottom trawlers around the world, many of which were exploited to unsustainable levels. The fisheries were found to be overall under-reported by as much as 42%, leading to the removal of an estimated 25 million tons of deep-sea fish. Besides depleting deep-sea fish stocks, bottom trawling of deep fish does not generate much in the way of marketable fish. Immature individuals are thrown overboard because they generally don’t meet minimum size requirements, while non-targeted species caught as bycatch are also returned dead to the sea. Photo: Big-fined chimaera by EVNautilus YT  Reference: Victorero et al., 2018. Out of Sight, But Within Reach: A Global History of Bottom-Trawled Deep-Sea Fisheries From >400 m Depth. Frontiers in Marine Science. -- source link

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