The Transform Bottom Trawling coalition organised a special panel discussion at COP26 on Monday 8 November entitled “Bottom Trawling and a Carbon-Free Future: What needs to change?”
The event, which was open to both on-site and remote participants, brought together a large number of speakers representing a number of organisations from around the world. The discussions were broadcast live from Glasgow, the Scottish city where COP26 is taking place.
The practice of bottom trawling has long been criticised by marine conservationists and small-scale fishing organisations. New research suggests that bottom trawling contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions, making trawling a human activity with a significant carbon footprint. This new research confirms that this activity is incompatible with sustainable development and a true green transition.
New studies have reported that bottom trawling destroys species that live on the seabed and absorb carbon. This releases carbon into the water and into the atmosphere. Trawling thus contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Sophie Benbow, the moderator of the debate, from Fauna & Flora International, a member organisation of the Transform Bottom Trawling Coalition opened the debate by stating that “bottom trawling is an inherently devastating fishing method and yet it is normalised,” she then presented the coalition's four demands: Extend and strengthen trawling exclusion zones to be reserved for artisanal fishing, ban bottom trawling in marine protected areas, end subsidies for bottom trawling and “freeze the carbon footprint” by preventing the expansion of the practice.
The various speeches showed, from a practical point of view, the extent to which trawling presents major risks to the balance of ecosystems and the sustainability of fisheries resources. Bally Philps from the Scottish Pole and Line Fishermen's Federation explained how trawling's carbon footprint is significant, as well as being a source of destabilisation of ecosystems and a factor leading to the gradual extinction of fish species in Scottish waters. Jenny Crockett, from the Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST), focused on the importance of carbon-absorbing marine species that are massively destroyed by trawling, releasing this carbon into the water and eventually into the atmosphere. She concluded that the establishment of marine protected areas should be considered among the first solutions to be proposed.
Update on 16 December: The study (Sala et al., 2021) suggesting that bottom trawling is massively contributing to climate change is being reconsidered by the scientific community. Many experts contend that the amount of carbon resuspended in the water column according to the model the study was based on was “overestimated”. Also, the Sala et al. paper was based on another paper that was retracted in October 2021 by The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Source: https://sustainablefisheries-uw.org/flawed-mpa-science-retracted/
THE IMPACT OF TRAWLING ON SMALL-SCALE FISHERIES
Mr. Gaoussou Gueye, President of the African Confederation of Artisanal Fisheries Organisations (CAOPA) spoke about the impact of bottom trawling on African coasts and fishing communities. The effects of climate change are already visible for African coastal communities and Mr. Gueye recalled the dangers of trawling on the productivity of the seabed and the stability of ecosystems in the region. Trawlers often fish illegally in areas reserved for artisanal fisheries, destroying their nets and resources. He called for African leaders to use the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA) to raise awareness of the importance of artisanal fisheries and thereby protect them from the damage caused by bottom trawling. He eventually called for exclusive access rights to the coastal zone for African artisanal fisheries, meaning an exclusion of trawlers from this vital area for small-scale fishermen. “An industrial bottom trawler fishing a few miles off the coast in a tropical African country is a bull in a china shop,” he said. “We can no longer accept this.”
Artisanal fishing communities denounce the daily collisions, sometimes fatal, with these trawlers which fish illegally in coastal areas reserved for artisanal fishing and their heavy gear destroys the nets of artisanal fishermen.
This position was echoed by Béatrice Gorez, coordinator of CAPE, who confirmed the need not only to establish artisanal fishing zones but also to entrust their management to artisanal fishing communities. Indeed, according to Gorez, we need to stop subsidising bottom trawlers, and redirect these subsidies instead to vulnerable coastal communities who are the first to be affected by climate change. She concluded that “there is no place for bottom trawling on the African coast.”
Banner photo: A former USSR trawler, 2007. Wikimedia commons.
Closing the funding gap for biodiversity conservation is one of the critical topics at COP 16 in October 2024. The funding gap has been estimated at $700 billion in Goal D of the Kunming-Montreal Agreement, based on a report, “Financing Nature”, published in 2020. Taking the example of fisheries and ocean conservation, this article shows the $700 billion figure is based on highly dubious calculations and assumptions. The author argues the funding gap report is not a serious effort to estimate the needs for supporting conservation efforts. Therefore, the $700 billion figure should be rejected by those opposed to the continuing financialisation of conservation.