Bottom Trawling and Marine Animal Welfare

Bottom trawling is one of the most ecologically destructive fishing methods, causing welfare harms to enormous numbers of marine animals while destroying seabed habitats.

Key Facts

Bottom trawls are dragged across the seabed catching everything in their path, including non-target species
An estimated 40-50% of total marine catch is discarded bycatch, including billions of animals discarded dead or dying
Pressure changes during trawling cause barotrauma — internal hemorrhage and organ damage — in fish brought to the surface
Seabed trawling disturbs benthic communities equivalent in scale to deforestation for some ocean floor ecosystems
MPAs with bottom trawling prohibition have 2-5 times higher seabed species diversity than adjacent trawled areas

Welfare Considerations

Bottom trawling imposes welfare harms on marine animals at enormous scale. Fish caught in trawl nets experience pressure barotrauma, crushing by net weight, and slow suffocation as water flow is restricted. Bycatch — the non-target animals caught and discarded — includes marine mammals, sea turtles, seabirds and millions of non-target fish species, all of which die or suffer injuries during capture and discard. The seabed destruction caused by trawling eliminates complex benthic habitats that provide shelter and food for diverse species, creating habitat-level welfare harm. Transitioning fishing fleets away from bottom trawling to less destructive methods is one of the most impactful possible marine welfare improvements.

What You Can Do

Support the campaign to ban bottom trawling in all Marine Protected Areas globally
Choose fish species caught by static or low-impact methods rather than trawled products
Advocate for fishing subsidy reform to redirect support from destructive trawling to low-impact methods
Donate to Blue Marine Foundation and similar organizations campaigning for bottom trawling restrictions