Turning the tide on bottom trawling

Abstract

Trawling is universally recognized as one of the most destructive fishing methods, causing irreversible damage through scraping large tracts of bottom habitats. These habitats then suffer from declines in ecosystem functions and services, and collapses in populations of trawled species. The plethora of studies on the unsustainable impacts of commercial trawling is widely acknowledged by the scientific community, but few findings have been translated to actual policy. High profile attempts to curb deep-sea trawling have failed in the recent past, e.g. proposed moratoriums on deep-sea bottom trawling at the United Nations General Assembly in 2006 and within the European Union in 2013. In light of the global inertia to sanction trawling, countries in the Asia-Pacific are making significant headway. Within one week in November 2014, two giants in marine capture fisheries announced expansions in national trawling regulations. From 2016, Malaysia will extend their trawling ban from 8 nautical miles (nm) to 15 nm from the shore, requiring trawl fishers to convert to alternative fishing gear (http://www.nst.com.my/node/48495). Indonesia effected an immediate moratorium on licences for large fishing trawlers (>30 GT), with plans to end fuel subsidies and renew efforts to tackle illegal fishing (http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/ 96371/indonesian-new-minister-vows-to-crack -down-upon-illegal-fishing). More recently, the moratorium was extended to a national ban on large trawlers starting in September 2015 (http:// www.medanbisnisdaily.com/news/read/2015/02/14/ 146904/kapal-besar-dilarang-pakai-trawl). Although trawling was largely banned throughout Indonesia in 1980 (Bailey, 1997), this ban faced enforcement difficulties and a lack of political will. By the 2000s, trawling was again permitted in certain areas and illegal trawling was rampant (REBYC-II CTI, 2010). Continued trawling at the current rate is untenable, and is presumably the impetus for renewed efforts to regulate this fishery. These measures in Malaysia and Indonesia, the complete ban on trawling in the territorial waters of Hong Kong (2012) and Palau (2006), and the announcement in December 2014 to permanently ban super trawlers in Australian waters (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/ dec/24/supertrawlers-to-be-banned-permanently -from-australian-waters), represent a significant advancement towards fisheries sustainability and marine conservation in the region. Asia-Pacific nations account for half of all global marine capture fishery production, with Indonesia ranking 5th (5.1%) and Malaysia 16th (1.5%) in global