Destructive Trawling: Reefs to Rubble

[marine332]

@ninjapadraig. The article in New Scientist doesn't refute this at all, they talk about squid and other fish in a recently trawled zone. The problem highlighted is about destruction to bottom habitates and species.

Trawlers won't go over rocky areas or coral reef areas but that doesn't mean that the practice is not hugely destructive.

[ninjapadraig]

New Scientist article Nov 25 2010 refutes this video

[RainbowXpress]

@ninjapadraig Could you kindly supply the link for this article. When I go to the November 25, 2010 issue of New Scientist on line, there is no such article. However there are several articles in the New Scientist archives that confirm the damage done by bottom trawling, I seem to remember you yesterday making some kind of comment about "evidence"...

[Vickybookgirl]

The same tired old footage that Green peace etc show. They don't show the modern trawl nets - lighter net and boards, with devices to let the non-target critters out, etc. Fishing is targeted because most people don't know the truth and believe everything told to them by people who use their lack of knowledge for their own power. It is not about saving anything, it is all about power and peoples donations to keep them in business. Find articles by Ray Hilborn and Walter Stark for the truth.

[Goofus5453]

This is a bald face lie.Trawelers don't drag there gear over reefs, it would tear them up. This crap is just one more example of science bullshit. As long they keep crying gloom and doom the grant will keep flowing, and thats what its all about, money.That and flower headed treehuggers who don't know there ass's from a hole in the ground.

[ThePrawnfisherman]

im a prawn fisherman get a fucking life find sumthing better to do with ur time assholes wouldnt hav the slightest clue on how a prawn trawler works or catchs anything so fuck off stop trying to destroy the seafood industry u wanker!!!!!!!!!

[Iammushy]

Even though trawlers are not the main part of coral reef destruction, they still do take a part in it. Do you guys not even care that 20% of the world's coral reefs have already been destroyed, 24% are under imminent risk of being destroyed and another 26% are under long term threat. That leaves only 30% unthreatened. Coral reefs can be thousands of years old, dating back from the last ice age.

[strikenetter]

all i ever hear out of biologists is ecological damage , and bycatch derived from commercial fishing operations and how gillnet is nothing but death and destruction. I gillnet and have only a .5 % bycatch rate. In the right hands a trawl net has the same bycatch rate, for i use one shrimping. LIES LIES LIES LIES and of course more LIES. IF you people want to save the fish pops. start with pollution in rivers where many fish, sound and ocean species spawn. Find somewhere for ur shit to go !

[ShaktivaIrahs]

I find most comments here downward lazy. So, because they havent have the right argument, it's not real? Native fishermen lose their income and food because trawlers indiscriminately throw out their nets and rob them of seafood, as in West-Africa?.

Many harbors complain the fish has left and many are now unemployed seeking new jobs.

It's not just netting but ploughing, just like those diamondships. I havent seen much choice of seafood lately on the markets, to me that says something.'s up.

[SincereConcern]

Yes, it stands to reason that if a net were to be snagged on a reef it would be torn.

However, during bottom trawling over sand, sediment from the ocean floor is swirled up into the water. This causes problems such as blocking out sun from reaching marine plants, dead zones from phosphorus released from sediment, and stirring up pollutants that can harm plankton (and thus the rest of the food chain).

[Gr33nWAR]

Will you actually show nets trawling over reef? All I see is nets going over sand. Fuck you and Fuck Greenpeace. Do some proper research because your lies affect the hard working commercial fishermen that bring billions of people their seafood. STOP TRYING TO DECEIVE PEOPLE

[Gr33nWAR]

I CALL BULLSHIT! Trawling is done over the sandy bottoms, definitely NOT over reef!

Nets will pick up mud when the board and sled aren't trimmed correctly, other than that, the rollers should be on the sand and the nets sitting just above.

If fishermen, commercial or illegal, were to trawl over reef or rock or anything other than sandy bottom then they would most certainly hook up, tear nets and sink their vessel.

Your video is absolute PROPAGANDA and insultingly inaccurate. YOU ARE DISHONEST

[Ruriul45]

haha wat a piss take. you dont know fuck all about trawling! if trawlers were purposely towing their nets over coral then they are just asking for them to be torn to shreds. stop preeching shite u dont know about!!!

i think im gna go put my gamrie bay 120ft scraper net on and rape the sea bed for prawns. thatll show yous!

[sngrmnsthsm]

We Must Put An End To Deadly Bottom Trawling!!

~Before it's too late....

[albinio157]

And we must let all orcas like Keiko (Free Willy) go back to the wild. Poor bastard couldn't even feed himself and starved to death. I guess most animal activists think they can understand animals, but in almost all cases, they just waste a bunch of money and time on bullshit. Commercial Fishing has been around for centuries.........and there's still a buttload of fish to catch.

[marcusmac1608]

hmmm...

yes, not to appear rude but will you FUCK OFF!

you do not know what you are talking about. FACT.

people do not trawl over coral reef. FACT

you stay in school, best place for you.

[schleit]

Truth means nothing here. Fishing is like hunting you goto areas you know. It's not like the propoganda shows

[albinio157]

HAHAHA!! One question...When you shave, do you use a nice clean, smooth razor, or do you use an old, rusty bread knife? Pretty easy one to answer...same thing goes for pelagic trawling. You tow over sandy, muddy ocean floor, your not losing a $150,000 net, but if your an idiot and tow over coral or rocky bottoms, it's devastating to the gear. Where do you get that we tow over coral? LIES, LIES, and more LIES!! Not to mention, 99.9% of the sea bed has never been touched.

[HolySpringRolls]

apparently the sea bed the size of usa is trawled each year. and trawling is dragging nets on the sea bed, right? I'm very sure they've touched more than 1% of the sea bed. there are many illegal trawlers too, fishermen are killing each other in indonesia cause of this issue. trawlers earn a lot while others cant catch anything. how are they going to support themselves?

and shaving has nothing to do with trawling. why comparing things to win? dont be lazy and use good facts.

[albinio157]

I'm a perfect example actually. I have been bottom trawling for 8 years and you need to know the difference between pelagic and nonpelagic trawling. Sure we tow "over" bottom about the size of the US all over the world, but it's less than 1% that is actually touched. Pelagic Trawls are midwater nets. You touch bottom with this gear and you can kiss it good bye. When you actually can back what your saying up, come talk to me. As of right now, you have absolute no credibility to what your arguing.

[sharkfin77]

Pelagic trawling doesn't ruin the ocean floor, but it is a very non discriminant and unsustainable way of fishing, with huge bycatch percentages. Unfortunately, most of the marine life pulled up by these nets are not the intended species to be caught. Sea turtles, sharks, marine mammals, and many other marine animals get caught up in these pelagic nets, get hauled onto the ship deck, die from suffocation, and are scraped overboard.

[albinio157]

It is true that there is some bycatch when midwater fishing. Most of the bycatch is salmon or squid, but due to government restrictions, when we reach a certain bycatch quota, they shut us down. Take for example salmon. If there is too much bycatch, they'll shut that area down most likely for the rest of the season. Most midwater nets have salmon excluders which help decrease salmon bycatch also. For further reference, I'm talking about pollock fishing inwhich 99% of the catch is "all" pollock.

[sharkfin77]

Not a very pretty sight, and it's a really inefficient way of fishing. I'm a marine biologist, and I've been onboard numerous vessels out at sea and witnessed this first hand.

[Pookalocka1]

This video is so wrong and full of complete misinformation.

[jpap407]

Why are we allowing the rape and depletion of a public resource by those that feel it's their right to make a living? Ban them immediately!!!!!!!!!!

[marcusmac1608]

why dont you try coming fishing for a day before you say things like that you little fucking cunt. go back to university and get on with whatever the fuck it is that you do instead of getting involvrd in things you do not understand.

[jpap407]

marcus the world is understanding it all too much. You've raped and depleted the resource for way to long. You really should consider going back to school since you'll be out of work soon you little fucking cunt.

[treehugger756]

my dad works for this company :) he saves the oceans :)

[swol24]

tell your dad that the work they do is amazing. you should be so proud of him!

[treehugger756]

thanks!!

[marcusmac1608]

your dad is a terrorist propaganda merchant

[SheikhElKorbina]

hello,

this video is a misinformation... you are mixing reefs and soft bottom where trawling is possible !

nobody trawls directly on reefs !!

by

[spydrworks]

This video is NOT misinformation. Reefs occupy floor territory as well as cliffs and ledges and trawling is the single most destructive practice of fishing and is the number one cause of total ecosystem failures!! Wise up bud before spewing your poison.

[babybreaths1617]

Wow you managed to requote what the video said but did no research of your own. While this video is impart true it is also wrong. Like said above most bottom trawling is done on soft muddy ground (hence mud clouds) where the damage is only minor. Watch the video again and look where the nets are. they are not going over coral but along the sandy floors. Some trawlers do dis-obey the rules and fish destroy coral when they do and this is an issue but not all trawlers kill coral. suck on that:}

[spydrworks]

All trawlers do massive damage to the sea floor stripping away the life that does live on and in it and there are many species of coral that anchor themselves in mud and where do you think reefs begin? Where do you think the nutrients are? You make it sound as though the damage that's done is insignificant when in fact it is the number one destructive method of commercial fishing. What this video doesn't show is all the dead and dying that get tossed overboard. Suck on that!!

[7uhsoal]

Trawling on coral doesn't work for 3 reasons

1. the coral rips the nets-the nets are fragile and expensive to replace.

2. the fish can hide so catch would be low

3. the fish they did catch would come up looking as if they had been through a meat grinder and no one wants there fish to look like that.

NOT ALL TRAWLING IS BAD. like everything there is good and bad.

[guitarmanseaner]

thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­

[guitarmanseaner]

thank you

[fishermenbrax2008]

well said! and very true

[treehugger756]

this is not misinformation!! its really happening!!

[tattoobird]

awesome video

[BubbleBob23]

Nice Video!

good to see this info spread here - more!