Editing Bottom trawling (section)

===Current restrictions===
Today, some countries regulate bottom trawling within their jurisdictions:<ref>[http://www.savethehighseas.org/recentaction.cfm]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204193626/http://www.savethehighseas.org/recentaction.cfm|date=February 4, 2012}}</ref>

* The [[U.S. Regional Fishery Management Councils|United States Regional Fishery Management Councils]] limit bottom trawling in specific closed areas to protect specific species or habitat. For instance, on the [[West Coast of the United States|United States West Coast]] a large Rockfish Conservation Area was created in 2002 prohibiting trawling in most areas of the coast between 75 and 150 [[fathom]]s&nbsp;– {{convert|450|to|900|ft|m}} – to protect [[overfished]] [[Sebastes|rockfish]] species.<ref>{{citation |title=Trawl Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA) Boundary Modifications Draft Environmental Assessment September 2013, National Marine Fisheries Service Sustainable Fisheries Division Northwest Region|url=https://www.pcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/G6b_RCA_DRAFT_EA_SEPT2013BB.pdf}}</ref> In 2018, these closures were revised to allow trawling in some previously closed areas while closing new areas of sensitive habitat to bottom trawling.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-12-26/west-coast-fishery-rebounds-in-rare-conservation-home-run|title=West Coast fishery rebounds in a rare conservation 'home run'|agency=Associated Press|date=2019-12-26|via=[[Los Angeles Times]]|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-27|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
* The [[Council of the European Union]] in 2004 applied "a precautionary approach" and closed the sensitive [[Darwin Mounds]] off [[Scotland]] to bottom trawling.
* In 2005, the [[United Nations]] [[Food and Agriculture Organization]]'s General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) banned bottom trawling below 1000 meters (3,281&nbsp;ft) and, in January 2006, completely closed ecologically sensitive areas off [[Italy]], [[Cyprus]], and [[Egypt]] to all bottom trawling.
* [[Norway]] first recognized in 1999 that trawling had caused significant damage to its cold-water ''[[lophelia]]'' [[coral]]s.  Norway has since established a program to determine the location of cold-water corals within its [[exclusive economic zone]] (EEZ) so as to quickly close those areas to bottom trawling.
* [[Canada]] has acted to protect vulnerable [[coral reef]] [[ecosystem]]s from bottom trawling off [[Nova Scotia]].  The [[Gulf of Maine|Northeast Channel]] was protected by a fisheries closure in 2002, and the [[The Gully (Atlantic)|Gully]] area was protected by its designation as a [[Marine Protected Area]] (MPA) in 2004.
* [[Australia]] in 1999 established the [[Tasmanian Seamounts Marine Reserve]] to prohibit bottom trawling in the south [[Tasman Sea]].  Australia also prohibits bottom trawling in the [[Great Australian Bight Marine Park]] off [[South Australia]] near [[Ceduna, South Australia|Ceduna]]. In 2004, Australia established the world's largest marine protected area in the [[Great Barrier Reef Marine Park]], where fishing and other extractive activities are prohibited.
* [[New Zealand]] in 2001 closed 19 [[seamount]]s within its EEZ to bottom trawling, including in the [[Chatham Rise]], sub-Antarctic waters, and off the east and west coasts of the [[North Island]].  New Zealand Fisheries Minister [[Jim Anderton]] announced on 14 February 2006 that a draft agreement had been reached with fishing companies to ban bottom trawling in 30 percent of New Zealand's EEZ, an area of about {{convert|1,200,000|km²|sqmi}} reaching from [[subantarctic]] waters to [[subtropical]] ones.<ref name="nzherald1">{{cite web|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10368258 |title=NZ to close 30pc of waters to trawling - National - NZ Herald News |publisher=Nzherald.co.nz |date=2006-02-14 |access-date=2013-09-09}}</ref>  But only a small fraction of the area proposed for protection will cover areas actually vulnerable to bottom trawling.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3766013a6160,00.html |title=New Zealand, world, sport, business & entertainment news on Stuff.co.nz |access-date=2006-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930041505/http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3766013a6160,00.html |archive-date=2007-09-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Palau]] has banned all bottom trawling within its jurisdiction and by any Palauan or Palauan corporation anywhere in the world.<ref>[http://www.savethehighseas.org/display.cfm?ID=104]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515010559/http://www.savethehighseas.org/display.cfm?ID=104|date=May 15, 2006}}</ref>
* The President of [[Kiribati]], Anote Tong, announced in early 2006 the formation of the world's first deep-sea marine reserve area. This measure – the [[Phoenix Islands Protected Area]] – created the world's third-largest marine protected area and may protect deep sea corals, fish, and seamounts from bottom trawling.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://smh.com.au/news/world/kiribati-creates-worlds-first-deepsea-marine-reserve/2006/03/29/1143441214620.html |title=Kiribati creates world's first deep-sea marine reserve - World |newspaper=smh.com.au |date= 2006-03-30|access-date=2013-09-09}}</ref> However, the actual boundaries of this reserve and what harvest limitations may occur therein have not been detailed. Moreover, Kiribati currently{{when|date=October 2019}} has only one [[patrol boat]] to monitor this proposed region.
*[[Venezuela]] was the first country to ban industrial trawling in its [[territorial waters]] and EEZ in 2009.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mendoza|first=Jeremy|title=Rise and fall of Venezuelan industrial and artisanal marine fisheries : 1950-2010 |journal=Fisheries Centre the University of British Columbia Working Paper Series|s2cid=141051731}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fischer|first=Johanne|date=2010|title=Review of the implementation of the international plan of action for the conservation and management of sharks|url=http://www.fao.org/tempref/FI/DOCUMENT/COFI/COFI_30/SBD8e.pdf|journal=FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Circular|volume=1076}}</ref>
* [[Hong Kong]] passed legislation banning trawling on 18 May 2011 in an effort to restore the territory's devastated fish stocks and marine ecosystem. The ban came into effect on 31 December 2012. The government paid [[Hong Kong dollar|HK$]]1.72 billion to affected trawlers in a buyout scheme. Persons who contravene the ban can be fined or imprisoned under the Fisheries Protection Ordinance (Cap 171).<ref>{{cite web|title=Facts About the Trawling Ban in Hong Kong Waters|url=http://www.wwf.org.hk/en/whatwedo/conservation/marine/sos/abouttrawlban/|publisher=WWF Hong Kong|access-date=27 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=AFCD officers intercept illegal trawler (with photo)|url=http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201607/26/P2016072600978.htm|publisher=Hong Kong Government|date=26 July 2016}}</ref>
* [[Sri Lanka]] banned trawling in 2017, however, [[Exclusive economic zone of Sri Lanka|Indian fishermen regularly engage in banned trawling]] in Sri Lankan waters.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Muiz |first1=Sarah |title=Sri Lankan seas still disturbed by Indian bottom trawling menace |url=https://www.dailymirror.lk/news-features/Sri-Lankan-seas-still-disturbed-by-Indian-bottom-trawling-menace/131-268447#:~:text=The%20industrial%20practice%20of%20bottom%20trawling%20by%20Indian,fishing%20practice%20which%20has%20been%20effective%20since%202017. |access-date=9 July 2024 |publisher=Daily Mirror |date=4 October 2023}}</ref>