Bottom trawl fishing footprints on the world’s continental shelves
Amoroso, R.O.; Pitcher, C.R.; Rijnsdorp, A.D.; McConnaughey, R.A.; Parma, A.M.; Suuronen, P.; Eigaard, O.R.; Bastardie, F.; Hintzen, N.T.; Althaus, F.; Baird, S.J.; Black, J.; Buhl-Mortensen, L.; Campbell, A.B.; Catarino, R.; Collie, J.S.; Cowan Jr., J.H.; Durholtz, D.; Engstrom, N.; Fairweather, T.P.; Fock, H.O.; Ford, R.; Gálvez, P.A.; Gerritsen, H.D.; Góngora, M.E.; González, J.A.; Hiddink, J.G.; Hughes, K.M.; Intelmann, S.S.; Jenkins, C.J.; Jonsson, P.; Kainge, P.; Kangas, M.I.; Kathena, J.N.; Kavadas, S.; Leslie, R.W.; Lewis, S.G.; Lundy, M.; Makin, D.; Martin, J.; Mazor, T.; Gonzalez-Mirelis, G.; Newman, S.J.; Papadopoulou, N.; Posen, P.; Rochester, W.; Russo, T.; Sala, A.; Semmens, J.M.; Silva, C.; Tsolos, A.; Vanelslander, B; Wakefield, C.B.; Wood, B.A.; Hilborn, R.; Kaiser, M.J.; Jennings, S. (2018). Bottom trawl fishing footprints on the world’s continental shelves. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 115(43): E10275-E10282. https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1802379115 In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The Academy: Washington, D.C.. ISSN 0027-8424; e-ISSN 1091-6490, more |   |
| Keyword | | | Author keywords | fisheries; effort; footprint; habitat; seabed |
| Authors | | Top | - Amoroso, R.O.
- Pitcher, C.R.
- Rijnsdorp, A.D., more
- McConnaughey, R.A.
- Parma, A.M.
- Suuronen, P.
- Eigaard, O.R.
- Bastardie, F.
- Hintzen, N.T., more
- Althaus, F.
- Baird, S.J.
- Black, J.
- Buhl-Mortensen, L.
- Campbell, A.B.
- Catarino, R.
- Collie, J.S.
- Cowan Jr., J.H.
- Durholtz, D.
- Engstrom, N.
| - Fairweather, T.P.
- Fock, H.O.
- Ford, R.
- Gálvez, P.A.
- Gerritsen, H.D.
- Góngora, M.E.
- González, J.A.
- Hiddink, J.G., more
- Hughes, K.M.
- Intelmann, S.S.
- Jenkins, C.J.
- Jonsson, P.
- Kainge, P.
- Kangas, M.I.
- Kathena, J.N.
- Kavadas, S.
- Leslie, R.W.
- Lewis, S.G.
- Lundy, M.
| - Makin, D.
- Martin, J.
- Mazor, T.
- Gonzalez-Mirelis, G.
- Newman, S.J.
- Papadopoulou, N.
- Posen, P.
- Rochester, W.
- Russo, T.
- Sala, A.
- Semmens, J.M.
- Silva, C.
- Tsolos, A.
- Vanelslander, B, more
- Wakefield, C.B.
- Wood, B.A.
- Hilborn, R.
- Kaiser, M.J., more
- Jennings, S.
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| Abstract | Bottom trawlers land around 19 million tons of fish and invertebrates annually, almost one-quarter of wild marine landings. The extent of bottom trawling footprint (seabed area trawled at least once in a specified region and time period) is often contested but poorly described. We quantify footprints using high-resolution satellite vessel monitoring system (VMS) and logbook data on 24 continental shelves and slopes to 1,000-m depth over at least 2 years. Trawling footprint varied markedly among regions: from <10% of seabed area in Australian and New Zealand waters, the Aleutian Islands, East Bering Sea, South Chile, and Gulf of Alaska to >50% in some European seas. Overall, 14% of the 7.8 million-km2 study area was trawled, and 86% was not trawled. Trawling activity was aggregated; the most intensively trawled areas accounting for 90% of activity comprised 77% of footprint on average. Regional swept area ratio (SAR; ratio of total swept area trawled annually to total area of region, a metric of trawling intensity) and footprint area were related, providing an approach to estimate regional trawling footprints when high-resolution spatial data are unavailable. If SAR was ≤0.1, as in 8 of 24 regions, there was >95% probability that >90% of seabed was not trawled. If SAR was 7.9, equal to the highest SAR recorded, there was >95% probability that >70% of seabed was trawled. Footprints were smaller and SAR was ≤0.25 in regions where fishing rates consistently met international sustainability benchmarks for fish stocks, implying collateral environmental benefits from sustainable fishing. |
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