Fishing about and about fishing
TO KILL THE GOLDEN EGGS LAYING GOOSE
Ten years ago, I published here a column named "Trawl Flogging Again". It started with –quote:
From time to time that or other NGO is waking up to blame the trawling industry for “bulldozering” the sea bottom and “devastating” bottom habitats. With some exceptions, such alarmist outbursts usually stem from either ignorance of the trawling practice and conditions, or from outright spite. They keep misleading the public at large and frustrating the industry.
What can one say to innocent public bombarded by articles in press, TV shows and radio broadcasts that tell of the terrible trawls that destroy habitats and kill off bottom species, bringing about a calamity on our seas and oceans? These campaigns are not about overfishing. They’re about stop fishing. – unquote.
In April 1998, I wrote on this page: “The simple truth is that trawling grounds cover considerable parts of our planet's continental shelf. Each year trawlnets pass over any point of these grounds a few to tens of times and the trawl fishery yields continually and for many decades over a quarter of the tonnage and much more in money terms of the world's 80-90M mt marine fish landings. How in the world can continually "destroyed", "devastated", "crushed", and "scoured" habitats produce such yields year after year, decade after decade, and even generation after generation?”
Well, King Solomon's wisdom that "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1 (9) – seems to be as actual as ever. Again and again, the worlds' fishermen wake up to another assault at trawling on the part of some enviromentalist and oceans' well-wisher organizations, advocates of recreational fishery associations, press media, or even their own governments' organs. Those attacks more often than not contain partial, discriminatory science as well as facts and observations meticulously chosen from a plethora of knowledge alive with information at variance with their selection.
For example, quite recently in their Oceana Overview, the ocean-watchers wrote in a quite unsurprising umpteenth attack on the trawling industry: "The extensive use of bottom trawls and dredges for commercial fishing causes more direct and avoidable damage to the ocean floor -- including deep-sea coral and sponge communities and other unique and sensitive seafloor marine life -- than any other human activity in the world".
You read this?… More than any human activity in the world ! More than drilling for oil, more than mining sea-bottom for minerals, more than laying gas and crude carrying pipelines, more than pouring zillions of tonnes of various pollutants into the ocean… just kill the trawlers and save the oceans! Even midwater trawlers that: are used to catch fish that swim away from the bottom such as pollock, hake and merluza... but (ye heavens!!) can also drag on the seafloor when they are full, potentially causing harm to deep-sea ecosystems.
And so they keep brainwashing another generation of innocent, and not-so innocent journalists, using their tens-of years old and rather stale demagogy on the ""horrible bottom trawls and dredges that effectively clear-cut everything living on the seafloor, using large, heavy nets kept open by even heavier trawl doors, many of which drag across large areas of seafloor.
Oceana claims that it is "working with scientists, lawyers, commercial and recreational fishermen, U.S. ocean policy managers at the regional and federal levels, the White House, U.S. Congressional members, state public officials and other interested private organizations" to protect deep-sea coral communities and other valuable and vulnerable ocean environment from destructive fishing gear, including bottom trawls and dredges. I wonder how all those Oceana's "co-workers" haven't draw its attention to the fact that one shouldn't put all trawling, at all scales, and at all ocean areas in one publicity basket. To avoid being accused of employing demagogic propaganda, Oceana should avoid blaming all trawling for being the worst villain that is harming ocean floor, when it wants to advocate for the deep-sea corals. But, I suspect that its focusing on trawling and some other fishing methods doesn't only stem from its worry of the marine environment but rather to draw public and regulators' attention away from other and heavier villains, among which are some of its main financial supporters.
I just read a recent paper by 3 Dutch scientists, P. D.van Denderen, T. van Kooten, and A. D. Rijnsdorp, entitled: Community consequences of bottom trawl fisheries in demersal food webs (Sr.Author's e-maill: daniel.vandenderen@wur.nl). Accordingly, while bottom trawls physically disturb the seabed and kill non-target organisms, including those that are food for the targeted fish species, there are indications that resulting changes may increase the availability of food and promote growth and even fisheries yield of target fish species. While if and how this occurs is the subject of ongoing debate, with evidence both for and against, the Dutch scientists show that bottom-feeding fish abundance depends on the sort of prevailing benthos. In bottom-up controlled systems, fishing would enhance fish abundance and yields. Also, it'll increase persistence of fish wherever the benthos that is the best-quality fish food is also more resistant to trawling, in terms of physical causes and processes.
During the years, I've read many trawl-effects studies with various findings and recommendations. The usual conclusion is that on soft grounds trawling is good for it oxygenates the upper bottom layer and, thus prevents the creation of black, smelly anoxic layer resulting from continuing deposition of dead organic matter and dying organisms. On hard bottom, the industry's has been initiating and supporting projects worldwide to develop trawls and trawling techniques with reduced bottom impact. And on the ecological side, it's usually supporting area closures of sensitive habitats, where trawls may indeed cause a permanent damage to deepwater coral-reef environment.
Anyway, to prevent your hen from pecking in your garden you don't have to kill it; just fence off the garden… and let her peck elsewhere.