Bottom Trawling: Is It Harming the Sea Floor?

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Bottom trawling is a fishing method that has raised significant concerns regarding its environmental impact, particularly on the sea floor. Critics argue that it causes extensive damage by indiscriminately scraping the ocean floor, destroying habitats such as coral reefs that provide essential homes for various marine species. The comparison to strip mining highlights the destructive nature of this practice. While some acknowledge the potential harm, there is a call for more precise data on the magnitude of bottom trawling's effects to better understand its ecological consequences. The discussion emphasizes the need for credible research to quantify the environmental impact of this fishing technique.
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From the Wiki you sited, it looks like it more then just "some" people who say its bad. I don't know much about it, but it reminds me of strip mineing. Coral provides natural homes to many other species.
 
bottom trawling is pretty indiscriminate and essentially scrapes everything off the bottom of the floor. there's the desired catch, and then other stuff like chunks of rock, corals, etc that get damaged in the process.

what makes you skeptical?
 
It is a simple and credible mechanism, and might well be true.

What is lacking here are just the precise order of magnitude effect of bottom trawling.
 
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