The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition

21 November 2008 About Us Contact Us



	2008 Ocean and the Law of the Sea, 17-21 Nov, the UN Sustainable Fisheries, 10-14 Nov, the UN NEAFC Annual Meeting, 10-14 Nov London (Dumping) Convention, Nov, London, UK 2009 ICES symposium, 27-30 Apr, Azores, Portugal

Bottom Trawling

Economics and Food Security - Why the Carnage Doesn't Make Sense

8 June 2004, Tasman Sea: New Zealand deep sea trawler, West Bay.
© 2004 Greenpeace/Roger Grace

11 Jun 11 2004 Tasman Sea: Rainbow Warrior crew member holds a piece of endangered black coral found in the wake of a bottom trawler.
© GREENPEACE / Grace

High seas bottom trawling is causing ecological destruction that is grossly disproportionate to its very limited economic contribution. The industry is not yet a strong economic force and bottom trawl fisheries are virtual non-contributors to global food security. Though it has already had a devastating impact, the use of bottom trawls on the high seas is still only in its early stages. With a fleet of no more than 300 bottom trawlers worldwide, it is not too late to put a stop to the world's most destructive fishing practice - before depleted fisheries within national waters and increasing demand push the industry to expand further into international waters.

At present, it is estimated that out of 3.1 million fishing vessels in operation worldwide, only 100-200 at most are bottom trawling the high seas on a full-time, year-round basis. Even including vessels that bottom-trawl fish on the high seas on a part-time basis, no more than several hundred vessels are likely to be engaged in this activity each year.

In 2001 (1), the world's high seas bottom trawl fleet caught approximately 170,000 - 215,000 metric tons of fish. This represents a tiny fraction (a mere 0.2 - 0.25 percent) of the 84 million tons of fish caught worldwide that year.

Most of the high seas catch is sold in European Union, United States and Japanese markets, making international bottom trawl fisheries virtual non-contributors to global food security.

Nor is high seas bottom trawling a strong economic force. The overall annual value of high seas bottom trawl fisheries is estimated to be approximately $300-$400 million. At most, this equals 0.5 percent of the estimated $75 billion value of the global marine fish catch in 2001 - even less when measured against the approximately $135 billion value of total fisheries production (marine, freshwater and aquaculture) that same year.

The situation, however, can only be expected to deteriorate in the years ahead. Deep-sea fish stocks within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) will either continue to be depleted or become less accessible under more restrictive fisheries management regulations. Demand for fish products is rising and will continue to do so. Some fishing nations are subsidizing the construction and/or operational costs of their high seas bottom trawl fleets. Having dug themselves into a hole through unsustainable fishing practices, some of these nations may believe that expanding deep-sea fisheries on the high seas will alleviate over-fishing within their EEZs and create new opportunities for their fishing fleets.

Any or all of these developments would provide incentives for well-capitalized deep-water vessels to push out into the high seas and extend the destructive scope of bottom trawl fishing. Indeed, the fleets of some of the world's more developed nations - for example, Spain, Russia, and New Zealand - are actively engaged in exploratory deep-sea fishing on the high seas in the North and South Atlantic, the South Pacific, and the Southern Indian Ocean.

As the deep-sea bottom fisheries continue to expand, however, the catch of deep-sea species on the high seas may never grow significantly. Once a population is fished out, deep-water trawlers search for new stocks of fish. As these fish stocks are similarly susceptible to over-fishing, they too will be quickly depleted. In this sense, the only true growth that can be certain to follow from high seas bottom trawling is in the destruction of deep-sea ecosystems and biodiversity on the high seas.

Notes:

(1) 2001 is the last year for which data on catch and value is consistently available worldwide, according to a recent report published by IUCN, WWF, NRDC and Conservation International. M. Gianni, High Seas Bottom Fisheries and their Impact on the Biodiversity of Vulnerable Deep-Sea Ecosystems. (IUCN/NRDC/CI/WWF 2004)
Download the executive summary, (870 KB) pdf
Full report available from IUCN website

More information:

Economics And Equity... The Deep Seas Parted
pdf; 2 pages; 532 KB
English | English US standard | Spanish

• • • • • • • • •