We are destroying the very structure that ocean life depends on for survival, the habitat that provides feeding and nursery grounds for so many species of fish and other life in the ocean.

Industrial bottom trawlers-boats that drag heavily weighted nets along the ocean bottom-catch fish and everything else in their path, obliterating the seafloor as they plow through deep-sea coral and sponge habitat that can take centuries to recover. In addition, large-scale industrial fishing ventures that damage ocean habitat and devastate fish populations for short-term gain are killing traditional fishing communities around the world. Though they make up only 10 percent of the European fleet, trawlers account for most of the catch of the species at greatest risk.

Trawling is a particularly destructive fishing technique in terms of discards, accidental catches, and the collapse of fish stocks and often severe damage to fragile underwater ecosystems. Trawlers total around 15,000 of the 100,000 vessels in the EU fleet, but their impact far outweighs their numbers in terms of destructive fishing.

Activities of European trawlers are not restricted to EU waters; a significant number of EU trawlers operate across the globe, both in the territorial seas of third countries and on the high seas.

Moreover, the trawling fleet continues to expand its activities. As fishing techniques become more sophisticated and stocks dwindle in traditional fishing grounds, EU trawlers seek new fisheries in deep sea areas. Scientists have highlighted that many of the target species, which include orange roughy and roundnose grenadier, are already overfished. Deep water trawling has also caused severe damage to fragile ecosystems such as cold water corals.

The new Common Fisheries Policy Regulation 2371/2002 commits the EU to protect the marine environment and to minimize the impacts of fishing on the marine ecosystem. Oceana believes that large steps could be taken towards meeting this commitment by reducing the impacts of the EU trawling fleet.

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