Bottom trawling is the most destructive fishing method deployed at scale, causing habitat destruction and massive non-target species capture with significant welfare implications.
Bottom trawling welfare impacts extend across multiple dimensions. Non-target fish caught and crushed in trawl nets experience acute trauma. Invertebrates caught and released dead or dying as discards have received much less welfare attention but are numerically vast. Seabed ecosystems destroyed by trawl gear support enormous communities of animals whose welfare — and very existence — depends on habitat integrity. The scale of destruction is difficult to comprehend: the global trawling fleet contacts more seabed annually than all other human land disturbance combined. Trawl closures allow habitat recovery and welfare-positive restoration of the communities that depend on intact seabed ecosystems.