Bottom trawling, which involves pulling giant nets across the seabed to catch fish, is a common method used in fishing. While scientists have been aware that this churns up carbon from the sea floor, more recent research has discovered that around 370m tonnes of carbon dioxide a year is released into the atmosphere in this manner.
Scientists are now referring to trawling as "marine deforestation" that has the potential to cause "irreparable harm" to the climate, society and wildlife. They have estimated that around 55-60% of the carbon dioxide released through trawling will reach the atmosphere within nine years.
The carbon dragged up from trawling would usually be safely stored in the ocean floor for millennia but, not only is it now being pulled into the atmosphere, the carbon released from the sea floor is also causing local acidification; meaning that the ocean's capacity to store carbon is reduced.
In research from 2021, bottom trawling was found to release as much carbon dioxide into the ocean annually as the entire aviation industry. Alongside the work undertaken in this study, the impact on the climate cannot be dismissed, scientists have warned. Dr Enric Seas believes the amount of carbon released by trawling is "too big to ignore" and that countries should include the emissions in their climate action plans.
