High Seas Bottom Trawl Red Herrings: Debunking Claims of Sustainability

The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC), a combined force of more than
40 conservation groups from around the world, is calling on the United Nations General Assembly to secure a moratorium on high-seas bottom trawling until a regime to protect deep-sea fisheries and biodiversity is developed and implemented. In an effort to fight this conservation measure, the fishing industry has made numerous fictitious claims aimed at downplaying the detrimental effects of bottom trawling on deep-sea ecosystems. These claims are easily refuted by the staggering amount of scientific evidence demonstrating the harmful impacts and unfortunate expansion of the bottom- trawling fishery from the shallow continental shelf to deeper and more distant waters beyond national jurisdiction. This document presents a compilation of the claims offered by the fishing industry, each followed by a powerful rebuttal based on the best available science.

Available in English and Spanish.