From seahorses to sharks, more than 3,000 fish species have been caught in bottom trawls, including many at risk of extinction, according to a new global inventory.
When Seaspiracy came out five years ago it finally exposed just how destructive bottom trawling is. Most people watching it (including myself) probably had no idea what bottom trawling even was. Finally, scientific studies that are not funded by the fishing industry are publishing the truth.
Last month the research study “Global diversity of marine fishes caught in bottom trawl fisheries” was published in Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries by researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC). It demonstrates the actual breadth of bottom trawling’s destruction—and the statistics are SHOCKING.
The study reveals that AT LEAST 3,000 species are caught in bottom trawling. This number is actually conservative as estimates suggest that the true number could be nearly DOUBLE.
“Bottom trawling sweeps up entire branches from the marine tree of life. It does not discriminate between common species and those already on the brink of extinction. From critically endangered giant guitarfishes to vulnerable plough-nosed chimeras and seahorses, we put pressure on evolutionarily unique species, including many we still know too little about.” — co-author Syd Ascione, a research biologist at Project Seahorse.
The study found that one in seven fish species recorded in bottom trawling catches were threatened or near threatened with extinction (based on the IUCN Red List). Whilst one in four species were lacking identification, showing how much data the industry as well as science is actually missing.
In fact, most small fish are labeled as “trash fish” or “mixed fish”, hiding the real number of species that are being caught. Yet, the study still discovered that 95% of the species were not being targeted by the fisheries—they were actually BYCATCH.
We at Seaspiracy are elated to see a scientific study being published about this. There are at least 100,000 bottom trawlers scouring the ocean floor, these boats clearly don’t even know what they’re catching. Yet, most operate legally, even INSIDE “so-called” marine protected areas and 99% are operating within countries’ national jurisdiction.
Therefore governments’ do have the ability to take this study seriously and impose stricter regulations on bottom trawlers—although our real dream would be to see them ending this practice altogether…
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