Behind a trawl fishing boat, a vast net can spend hours scraping the seafloor, funneling schools of fish toward a narrow bag at the back. A single tow can bring tens of thousands of pounds of seafood aboard.
That efficiency is why trawling has become central to some of the world’s largest commercial fisheries. But the gear that allows fishers to harvest large quantities at once can also catch unwanted marine life and harm seafloor ecosystems. Bottom trawling is the most extensive direct human physical disturbance to seabed habitats worldwide.
