Fishing trawlers scrape rock bottom
Marine researchers now say that fishing trawlers destroy an area twice the size of the contiguous United States every year, but it’s still unclear how long it takes seafloor communities to recover.
References:
Watling, L., and E.A. Norse. 1998. Disturbance of the seabed by mobile fishing gear: A comparison to forest clearcutting. Conservation Biology 12(December):1180.
Further Readings:
Fishing for answers. Science News 150(Oct. 26):268.Auster, P.J. 1998. A conceptual model of the impacts of fishing gear on the integrity of fish habitats. Conservation Biology 12(December):1198.
Brailovskaya, T. 1998. Obstacles to protecting marine biodiversity through marine wilderness preservation: Examples from the New England region. Conservation Biology 12(December):1236.
Engel, J., and R. Kvitek. 1998. Effects of otter trawling on a benthic community in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Conservation Biology 12(December):1204.
Kaiser, M.J. 1998. Significance of bottom-fishing disturbance. Conservation Biology 12(December):1230.
Pilskaln, C.H., J.H. Churchill, and L.M. Mayer. 1998 Resuspension of sediment by bottom trawling in the Gulf of Maine and potential geochemical consequences. Conservation Biology 12(December):1223.
Raloff, J. 1996.
Schwinghamer, P., et al. 1998. Effects of experimental otter trawling on surficial sediment properties of a sandy-bottom ecosystem on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Conservation Biology 12(December):1215.
Sources:
Elliott A. Norse
Marine Conservation Biology Institute
15806 NE 47th Court
Redmond, WA 98052-5208
From Science News, Vol. 154, Nos. 25 & 26, December 19 & 26, 1998, p. 388. Copyright Ó 1998 by Science Service.
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