Deep Sea Trawling Welfare and Ecosystem Destruction

Bottom trawling in deep sea environments destroys ancient coral and sponge ecosystems that took centuries to form, causing massive mortality of invertebrates and disrupting habitat for fish and other species.

Key Facts

Bottom trawls scrape the seafloor removing everything in their path including ancient corals and sponges
Deep sea corals can live for hundreds to thousands of years and form complex three-dimensional habitat
An estimated 15 million square kilometres of seafloor are trawled annually
Deep sea fish species targeted by trawls have extremely slow growth and reproduction rates
Some orange roughy populations were commercially extinct within years of discovery due to trawling
Only 2.7% of the global ocean is currently protected from bottom trawling

Welfare Considerations

Deep sea trawling causes welfare harm at multiple scales. Individual fish caught in trawls experience pressure changes, crushing, and suffocation. Bycatch species killed or discarded alongside target species represent enormous welfare costs. The destruction of deep sea coral and sponge habitat eliminates structural complexity that hundreds of species depend on, causing population-level habitat loss over areas larger than entire countries. Ancient corals smashed by a single trawl pass may have taken 500 years to grow. Recovery of trawled deep sea habitat can take centuries. High seas protection treaties, including the UN High Seas Treaty, offer the most significant opportunity to protect deep sea ecosystems from trawling welfare harm.

What You Can Do

Avoid deep-sea fish species including orange roughy, grenadier, and deep-sea shark products
Support the UN High Seas Treaty ratification and implementation
Advocate for comprehensive deep sea trawling bans in international waters
Donate to Deep Sea Conservation Coalition and equivalent advocacy organisations
Raise awareness about deep sea trawling as among the most destructive fishing practices on Earth