The value of bottom trawling in Europe

Abstract

Commercial bottom trawl and dredge fisheries are active across much of Europe, with more than half of the seabed area trawled every year in some regions. These fisheries remain contentious; significant ecological and economic damages have been well documented. Yet, they remain a source of food and provide jobs and economic revenue. Considering recent pushes to reduce bottom trawling effort in European waters, we assess how the social costs associated with this practice might compare to the benefits it provides. We find that society may be losing out to the private sector. This finding is driven primarily by climate impacts from the release of organic carbon from seabed sediments following disturbance by bottom-trawling. Despite uncertainty in how trawl-induced carbon remineralization is parameterized, the associated climate costs to society outweigh the benefits in most scenarios. Further, we show that bottom trawling occurs in a significant portion of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) across Europe. We argue that phasing out bottom trawling in MPAs could yield meaningful net benefits if done correctly.