When fishing companies go trawling, an industrial fishing method the involves dragging a fishing net across the seafloor, they wreak havoc on the lives of countless ocean creatures. These heavily-weighted nets can severely disrupt the delicate ecosystems deep beneath the waves. Furthermore, trawling doesn't discriminate, frequently scooping up aquatic life that is unmarketable, or sometimes even illegal to fish, right along with any desired catch. All of this has evident since the practice began in the 14th century — but what has been less well-known is the other impacts trawling, especially climate change.
Now a recent study in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science sheds light on this murky subject, while presenting some sobering data: Between 55% and 60% of trawling-induced aqueous CO2 has been released into the atmosphere over the past seven to nine years. The authors estimate that, between 1996 and 2020, trawling could have released around 340 billion kilograms (750 billion pounds) of CO2 to the atmosphere all over the planet.
