Editing Bottom trawling (section)

===Lack of regulation===
Beyond national jurisdictions, most bottom trawling is unregulated either because there is no [[Regional Fisheries Management Organisation]] (RFMO) with competence to regulate, or else what RFMOs that do exist have not actually regulated.  The major exception to this is in the Antarctic region, where the [[Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources]] regime has instituted extensive bottom trawling restrictions.<ref>[http://www.ccamlr.org/pu/E/e_pubs/am/man-ant/p4.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913233502/http://www.ccamlr.org/pu/E/e_pubs/am/man-ant/p4.htm|date=September 13, 2009}}</ref> 

The [[North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission]] (NEAFC) also recently closed four seamounts and part of the mid-Atlantic Ridge from all fishing, including bottom trawling, for three years. This still leaves most of international waters completely without bottom trawl regulation.

As of May 2007 the area managed under the [[South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation]] (SPRFMO) has gained a new level of protection. All countries fishing in the region (accounting for about 25 percent of the global ocean) agreed to exclude bottom trawling on high seas areas where vulnerable ecosystems are likely or known to occur until a specific impact assessment is undertaken and precautionary measures have been implemented. Observers will also be required on all high seas bottom trawlers to ensure enforcement of the regulations.