THE European Parliament will next week vote on whether to ban trawling in the deep ocean. Not surprisingly, the fishing industry is opposed to a ban and has lobbied hard against it. One of its key arguments is that trawling is not as damaging to ecosystems as environmentalists often claim.
Members of the parliament might therefore find their attention being drawn to the news that, in some areas, trawling the seabed doesn't always create "marine deserts", and can even boost fish numbers (see "Are there ecological merits to trawling the seabed?").
So does the fishing lobby have a point? Absolutely not.
The latest news is about shallow trawls, not deep ones. It reveals growing evidence that trawling on the flat, sandy beds in shallow areas can skew the ecology to the advantage of worms and other small, soft species eaten by the fish that the trawlers are harvesting. Result: trawling produces more fish, not fewer.
But that doesn't make trawling good everywhere. And certainly not in the deep sea, where coral reefs, seamounts and rugged canyons that harbour diverse marine life are being destroyed as trawlers head for deeper waters. The ban should go ahead.
This article appeared in print under the headline "Trawling for the truth"
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