Oops!... We Trawled It Again

Bottom-towed fishing gears, such as trawls, seines, and dredges, damage benthic habitats. In the short term, fishing results in a reduction in species richness and abundance, particularly for epifauna and sessile species. Over the long term, fishing causes the loss of complex structures, leading to altered ecosystem functions with reduced biodiversity and resilience to disturbances.

Case of fishery effects on epifauna in Greater North Sea

Epifauna occurrence
Camera recordings in an intensely fished area of the Greater North Sea reveal that epifauna is scarce, especially in sandy sediment, where fauna is almost depleted. Epifauna is concentrated in stone reefs or single stones in sandy sediments. However, stone reefs are small and occur sporadically.

Effects of fishing intensity
Epifauna diversity is low due to fishing activities, as when towed, the gear catches, displaces, or burrows epifauna, resulting in high mortality. Even low penetration fishery gear affects the diversity of epifauna.