For the past few decades, mankind has probably brought about more damage to Mother Nature compared to benefits. The negative impacts of our actions/practices are even affecting the biodiversity at sea as proven by several re-known marine biologists and wildlife organizations.
One of such destructive practices is bottom trawling. Bottom trawling is a method of commercial fishing that is primarily practiced in Europe since the 18th Century, where a huge net is dragged along the seabed behind fishing boats to catch a larger number of fishes. Initially, commercial fishing boats had to avoid trawling at areas that contain coral reefs and rocky terrains unless they wanted to risk damaging the nets. However, after fitting the enormous nets with huge rubber tires or rollers, they could trawl through rough surfaces easily and catch a larger variety of fishes in any particular area. Bottom trawling has since destroyed countless reefs and other marine habitats in Europe, affecting its fellow inhabitants too. In Norwegian waters, for instance, an estimated one third to one half of the deepwater reefs have been destroyed or damaged as a result of bottom trawling. Furthermore, the damages inflicted on these reefs are often difficult to heal. Trawling an area once is enough to render it lifeless for a few decades. Thus, it is all the more necessary for us to advocate organizations that oppose bottom trawling. (E.g. Greenpeace, Oceana)
In addition to this, bottom trawling is also seen as a threat to marine diversity because it has led to the current problem of over-fishing in Europe. Population of fishes such as Orange roughy, blue ing, black scabbards and parrot fish, are decreasing at a fast rate since the population of the fishes are unable to recover as quickly as they are trawled, given that their habitats are destroyed. Moreover, with the trawlers capable of reaching the depths of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, bottom trawling could very well be the main reason that prevents biologists from discovering new species of marine life (approximately 500,000 to 5, 000,000) in the sea, by firstly killing the unknown species beforehand.
Despite this, international organizations have not remained oblivious to the plight of the marine life. The United Nations and the European Union, for example, have since implemented tough measures to stop bottom trawling near coral reefs and regulate trawling activities to prevent the situation from worsening.
Websites to go:
http://new.patagoniatimes.cl/index.php/20081114686/News/Business-News/SOUTHERN-FISHERMEN-URGE-DEEP-SEA-TRAWLING-MORATORIUM.html
http://www.grantontrawlers.com/Trawling%20from%20Granton.htm
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309083400
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2008/02/25/news/story01.html
http://oceana.org/europe/what-we-do/stop-destructive-trawling/
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