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      Bottom trawl fishing footprints on the world’s continental shelves

      research-article
      a , 1 , b , c , d , e , f , g , h , h , c , i , j , k , l , m , n , o , p , q , r , s , r , t , u , v , w , x , v , y , y , d , z , aa , bb , cc , bb , dd , r , ee , ff , gg , hh , b , l , cc , ii , jj , b , kk , ll , mm , nn , oo , pp , cc , j , a , y , qq , o , jj , rr
      Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
      National Academy of Sciences
      fisheries, effort, footprint, habitat, seabed

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          Significance

          We conducted a systematic, high-resolution analysis of bottom trawl fishing footprints for 24 regions on continental shelves and slopes of five continents and New Zealand. The proportion of seabed trawled varied >200-fold among regions (from 0.4 to 80.7% of area to a depth of 1,000 m). Within 18 regions, more than two-thirds of seabed area remained untrawled during study periods of 2–6 years. Relationships between metrics of total trawling activity and footprint were strong and positive, providing a method to estimate trawling footprints for regions where high-resolution data are not available. Trawling footprints were generally smaller in regions where fisheries met targets for exploitation rates, implying collateral environmental benefits of effective fisheries management.

          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-km 2 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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          Most cited references53

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          Global analysis of response and recovery of benthic biota to fishing

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            A quantitative analysis of fishing impacts on shelf-sea benthos

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              Disturbance of the Seabed by Mobile Fishing Gear: A Comparison to Forest Clearcutting

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
                Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A
                pnas
                pnas
                PNAS
                Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
                National Academy of Sciences
                0027-8424
                1091-6490
                23 October 2018
                8 October 2018
                8 October 2018
                : 115
                : 43
                : E10275-E10282
                Affiliations
                [1] aSchool of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington , Seattle, WA 98195;
                [2] bCommonwealth, Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Oceans and Atmosphere , Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia;
                [3] cWageningen Marine Research , Wageningen UR, 1970 AB IJmuiden, The Netherlands;
                [4] dAlaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service , National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, WA 98115;
                [5] eCentro Nacional Patagónico , Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Puerto Madryn, 9120 Argentina;
                [6] fFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations , 00153 Rome, Italy;
                [7] gLuonnonvarakeskus/Natural Resources Institute Finland , 00790 Helsinki, Finland;
                [8] hNational Institute of Aquatic Resources , Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark;
                [9] iCSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere , Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia;
                [10] jNational Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research , Wellington, 6021, New Zealand;
                [11] kGNS Science , 5040 Lower Hutt, New Zealand;
                [12] lInstitute of Marine Research , 5817 Bergen, Norway;
                [13] mSchool of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland , Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia;
                [14] nMarine Laboratory , Marine Scotland Science, Aberdeen, AB11 9DB, Scotland;
                [15] oInternational Council for the Exploration of the Sea , 1553 Copenhagen V, Denmark;
                [16] pGraduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island , Narragansett, RI 02882;
                [17] qCollege of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University , Baton Rouge, LA 70803;
                [18] rFisheries Management, Offshore Resources, Department of Agriculture , Forestry and Fisheries of the Republic of South Africa, 8000 Cape Town, South Africa;
                [19] sQueensland Department of Agriculture , Fisheries and Forestry, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia;
                [20] tThünen Institute , 22767 Hamburg-Altona, Germany;
                [21] uMinistry for Primary Industries , 6140 Wellington, New Zealand;
                [22] vInsitituto de Fomento Pesquero , Blanco 839, Valparaíso, Región de Valparaíso, Chile;
                [23] wMarine Institute , H91 R673 Oranmore, Ireland;
                [24] xInstituto de Investigación de Hidrobiología , Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, 9100 Trelew, Chubut, Argentina;
                [25] ySchool of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University , LL59 5AB Anglesey, United Kingdom;
                [26] zInstitute of Arctic and Alpine Research , University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0450;
                [27] aaDepartment of Aquatic Resources, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , Lysekil 45330, Sweden;
                [28] bbNational Marine Information and Research Centre , Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Swakopmund, Namibia, 22001;
                [29] ccWestern Australian Fisheries and Marine Research Laboratories, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development , Government of Western Australia, North Beach, WA 6920, Australia;
                [30] ddInstitute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters , Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, 19013 Anavyssos, Attiki, Greece;
                [31] eeNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries’ National Marine Fisheries Service , Juneau, AK 99802;
                [32] ffAgri-Food and Biosciences Institute , BT9 5PX Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom;
                [33] ggCommercial Fisheries and Aquaculture, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries , Coffs Harbour, NSW 2450, Australia;
                [34] hhNorthern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries , Darwin, NT 0801, Northern Territory, Australia;
                [35] iiInstitute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters , Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece;
                [36] jjCentre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science , NR33 0HT Lowestoft, United Kingdom;
                [37] kkLaboratory of Experimental Ecology and Aquaculture, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata , 00133 Rome, Italy;
                [38] llConsiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze Marine , 160125 Ancona, Italy;
                [39] mmInstitute for Marine and Antarctic Studies , University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia;
                [40] nnInstituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera , Departamento do Mar e Recursos Marinhos, 1495-165 Lisboa, Portugal;
                [41] ooSouth Australian Research and Development Institute , Henley Beach, SA 5022, Australia;
                [42] ppAnimal Sciences Unit—Fisheries and Aquatic Production, Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research , 8400 Oostende, Belgium;
                [43] qqMarine Stewardship Council, EC1A 2DH London, United Kingdom;
                [44] rrSchool of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia , NR4 7TJ Norwich, United Kingdom
                Author notes
                1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: ramoroso@ 123456u.washington.edu .

                Edited by Bonnie J. McCay, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, and approved August 23, 2018 (received for review February 8, 2018)

                Author contributions: R.O.A., C.R.P., A.D.R., R.A.M., A.M.P., P.S., J.C., J.G.H., R.H., M.J.K., and S.J. designed research; R.O.A., C.R.P., A.D.R., R.A.M., A.M.P., P.S., O.R.E., F.B., N.T.H., F.A., S.J.B., J.B., L.B.-M., A.B.C., R.C., J.C., J.H.C., D.D., N.E., T.P.F., H.O.F., R.F., P.A.G., H.G., M.E.G., J.A.G., J.G.H., K.M.H., S.S.I., C.J., P.J., P.K., M.K., J.N.K., S.K., R.W.L., S.G.L., M.L., D.M., J.M., T.M., G.G.-M., S.J.N., N.P., P.E.P., W.R., T.R., A.S., J.M.S., C.S., A.T., B.V., C.B.W., B.A.W., R.H., M.J.K., and S.J. performed research; R.O.A., C.R.P., A.D.R., R.A.M., A.M.P., P.S., O.R.E., F.B., N.T.H., F.A., S.J.B., J.B., L.B.-M., A.B.C., R.C., J.C., J.H.C., D.D., N.E., T.P.F., H.O.F., R.F., P.A.G., H.G., M.E.G., J.A.G., J.G.H., K.M.H., S.S.I., C.J., P.J., P.K., M.K., J.N.K., S.K., R.W.L., S.G.L., M.L., D.M., J.M., T.M., G.G.-M., S.J.N., N.P., P.E.P., W.R., T.R., A.S., J.M.S., C.S., A.T., B.V., C.B.W., B.A.W., and S.J. analyzed data; and R.O.A. and S.J. wrote the paper with assistance from all coauthors.

                Author information
                http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2890-5349
                http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2075-4347
                http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0785-9662
                http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4213-2397
                http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5336-4612
                http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0783-0528
                http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5493-6862
                http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7151-5501
                http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4251-868X
                http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3689-1020
                http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7114-830X
                http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7476-8723
                http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4498-9845
                http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5154-5583
                http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4047-959X
                http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7066-1152
                http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2326-2305
                http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2390-7225
                Article
                201802379
                10.1073/pnas.1802379115
                6205437
                30297399
                db995eb3-5595-4d6e-add7-556dd4e7f4d7
                Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

                This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND).

                History
                Page count
                Pages: 8
                Categories
                9
                PNAS Plus
                Biological Sciences
                Sustainability Science
                PNAS Plus

                fisheries,effort,footprint,habitat,seabed
                fisheries, effort, footprint, habitat, seabed

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