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Bottom trawling reports

Greenpeace has published a number of reports and studies on bottom trawling over the years. They are available to download below.

Bottom trawling reports, studies and documents

Seamounts: Rest Stops and Filling Stations for Tuna and Swordfish

30 August 2006

At a workshop held in New Caledonia in March of this year, scientists examined the pivotal role of seamounts in relation to commercially important pelagic species such as albacore (Thunnus alalunga), bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis), bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and swordfish (Xiphias gladius) and concluded that there is strong evidence of a link between these species and seamounts. Akin to oceanic filling stations or rest stops, the seamounts act as a foraging habitat for pelagic fish which are attracted by the high concentrations of zooplankton and micronekton found around them.

Download Document (46 Kb)

Summary of UN Report: Impacts of Fishing

20 July 2006

On July 14, 2006, the UN Secretary General released a Report on actions taken by States and Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) to protect cold-water corals, seamounts and other vulnerable marine ecosystems from destructive fishing practices, including deep-sea bottom trawling on the high seas. The report was requested by the General Assembly in its Sustainable Fisheries Resolution. This is a 3 page summary of the main conclusions produced by Greenpeace and the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition.

You can also download the full report from the UN website - PDF format, 44 pages, 224KB.

Download Document (38 Kb)

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Map - High Sea Areas Closed to Bottom Trawling

19 July 2006

As of July 2006, on the high seas of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, no areas have been closed to deep sea bottom trawlf fishing for the purpose of protecting vulnerable deep sea ecosystems except for four seamounts and a small section of the mid-Atlantic ridge in the North Atlantic.

Download Document (795 Kb)

High Seas Areas Closed to Bottom Trawling

14 July 2006

This map shows high seas areas which are currently closed to the highly destructive practice of bottom trawling, as well as Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) which have taken measures against bottom trawling.

Download Document (795 Kb)

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Murky Waters

03 March 2006

Deep-sea bottom trawling is one of the most damaging forms of fishing practised today. However, identification of European vessels and companies involved in this high seas destruction is difficult, due to poor governance and the lack of transparency in the industry. Greenpeace has managed to collect information from direct observation of vessels engaged in high seas bottom trawl fishing in the waters of the North Atlantic during 2004-05. This report presents some of the available data, exposing management and ownership links to Europe for 18 vessels in more detail.

Download Document (3 Mb)

Fishing from south to north - the story of the Kerguelen

01 March 2006

On September 20, 2005, Greenpeace confronted the high seas bottom trawler Kerguelen fishing illegally in the international waters of the Barents Sea known as the ‘Loophole’.

Download Document (57 Kb)

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Bioprospecting in the deep sea

17 November 2005

The expanding exploration of deep-sea marine biodiversity for scientific, as well as commercial purposes (also known as “bioprospecting”) has drawn increasing attention to the question of access to and benefits from marine genetic resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction.The absence of any legal regime to regulate these activities means that bioprospecting on the high seas is an unregulated industry. As such, it poses a threat to deep-sea ecosystems, which due to their unique biological characteristics are particularly vulnerable to habitat disturbance.The current uncertain legal status surrounding deep-sea genetic resources, the rise in patents on marine life and the need for an equitable access and benefit-sharing regime regarding bioprospecting, underscores the lack of a comprehensive high seas oceans governance regime to protect and conserve marine biodiversity.

Download Document (667 Kb)

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Bioprospecting in the deep sea

17 November 2005

Download Document (667 Kb)

Pacific Islands Forum Briefing Paper - Moratorium on high seas bottom trawling

26 October 2005

Supporting a moratorium on high seas bottom trawl fishing - Pacific Islands Forum Briefing Paper, October 2005

Download Document (457 Kb)

High Seas Bottom Trawl Red Herrings

10 June 2005

The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC), a combined force of more than 40 conservation groups from around the world, is calling on the United Nations General Assembly to secure a moratorium on high-seas bottom trawling until a regime to protect deep-sea fisheries and biodiversity is developed and implemented. In an effort to fight this conservation measure, the fishing industry has made numerous fictitious claims aimed at downplaying the detrimental effects of bottom trawling on deep-sea ecosystems. These claims are easily refuted by the staggering amount of scientific evidence demonstrating the harmful impacts and unfortunate expansion of the bottom-trawling fishery from the shallow continental shelf to deeper and more distant waters beyond national jurisdiction. This document presents a compilation of the claims offered by the fishing industry, each followed by a powerful rebuttal based on the best available science.

Download Document (4 Mb)

High Seas Bottom Trawl Red Herrings

10 June 2005

Download Document (4 Mb)

Deep-water fishing: time to stop the destruction

01 May 2005

Deep sea bottom trawling uses large, heavy gear that is designed to drag, across the sea bed, causing massive collateral damage. Habitats, such as ancient corals, some of them thousands of years old, which provide shelter for hundreds of other unique species, are also destroyed by these fishing activities. Overall, they catch tens of thousands of tonnes of species along with those being targeted, which are then dumped dead or dying back into the sea. Because of the slow growth of many of these deep sea fish (which may be older than your great-grandmother when you eat them), and because good breeding years may only occur once every decade or less, it will take centuries for nature to repair the damage already done.

Download Document (1 Mb)

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Recent developments

Last ditch attempts to save the majestic Atlantic bluefin tuna from
commercial extinction are now under consideration.

Save the bluefin tuna: ban international trade

A last ditch attempt to save the majestic Atlantic bluefin tuna from commercial extinction is now under consideration.

Greenpeace activists strategically place rocks on the sea floor in
order to stop destructive bottom trawling in Sweden

Marine reserves - just a stone's throw away

This week we have created a granite shield against bottom trawling in a fragile and ecologically important marine area in Sweden. Our activists sailed into Swedish waters and have so far placed 140 granite rocks (each weighing between 0.5 and 3 tonnes) in the Lilla Middelgrund in the Kattegat. Our intention is to move to nearby Fladen and the same thing there.

Greenpeace launches spoof ad campaign: "There's probably no Cod."

Greenpeace has launched an ad campaign on buses and a billboard in Halifax and on a billboard in Ottawa that reads: “There’s probably no cod. Now let’s stop overfishing & think of the future.”