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==Environmental damage== {{see also|Environmental impact of fishing|environmental damage|Marine conservation}} [[File:Lake Michigan Bottom Trawl Debris.webm|thumb|loop|Short clip of a bottom trawl of a lake and the large amounts of debris produced]] Trawling gear produces acute impacts on biota and the physical substratum of the seafloor by disrupting the sediment column structure, overturning boulders, re-suspending sediments and imprinting deep scars on muddy bottoms.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Urbina|first=Ian|date=July 28, 2015|title=A Renegade Trawler, Hunted for 10,000 Miles by Vigilantes.|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/world/a-renegade-trawler-hunted-for-10000-miles-by-vigilantes.html|access-date=November 20, 2020}}</ref> Also, the repetitive passage of trawling gear over the same areas creates long-lasting, cumulative impacts that modify the cohesiveness and texture of sediments. It can be asserted nowadays that due to its recurrence, mobility and wide geographical extent, industrial trawling has become a major force driving seafloor change and affecting not only its physical integrity on short spatial scales but also imprinting measurable modifications to the geomorphology of entire continental margins.<ref name="researchgate.net">Oberle et al. (2018), [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319112762_Submarine_Geomorphology_Bottom_Trawling_and_other_Fishing_Activities “Submarine Geomorphology: Bottom Trawling and other Fishing Activities”], Book: Submarine Geomorphology Chapter 25, Springer, doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-57852</ref> Bottom fishing has operated for over a century on heavily fished grounds such as the [[North Sea]] and [[Grand Banks]]. While [[overfishing]] has long been recognised as causing major ecological changes to the fish community on the Grand Banks, concern has been raised more recently about the damage which benthic trawling inflicts upon seabed communities.<ref> {{cite web |title=Beam trawling on the North Sea |publisher=Greenpeace |url=http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/cbio/beam.html |access-date=2009-01-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210112607/http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/cbio/beam.html |archive-date=2008-12-10 }} </ref> A species of particular concern is the slow growing, deep water [[coral]] ''[[Lophelia pertusa]]''. This species is home to a diverse community of deep sea organisms, but is easily damaged by fishing gear. On 17 November 2004, the [[United Nations General Assembly]] urged nations to consider temporary bans on high seas bottom trawling.<ref>{{UN document |docid=A-59-PV.56 |body=General Assembly |type=Verbatim Report |session=59 |meeting=56 |page=4 |anchor=pg004-bk02 |date=17 November 2004 |speakername=Ms. Kimball | speakernation=International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |access-date=2009-05-09 }}</ref> A global analysis of the impacts of bottom trawling found that the impact on seabed [[Biota (biology)|biota]] was strongly dependent on the type of gear used, with otter trawls estimated as having the smallest impact and removing 6% of biota per pass while hydraulic dredges had the largest impact and removed 41% of biota per pass.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hiddink|first1=Jan Geert|last2=Jennings|first2=Simon|last3=Sciberras|first3=Marija|last4=Szostek|first4=Claire L.|last5=Hughes|first5=Kathryn M.|last6=Ellis|first6=Nick|last7=Rijnsdorp|first7=Adriaan D.|last8=McConnaughey|first8=Robert A.|last9=Mazor|first9=Tessa|date=2017-07-14|title=Global analysis of depletion and recovery of seabed biota after bottom trawling disturbance|journal= [[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |volume=114|issue=31|language=en|pages=8301–8306|doi=10.1073/pnas.1618858114|issn=0027-8424|pmid=28716926|pmc=5547586|bibcode=2017PNAS..114.8301H |doi-access=free}}</ref> Other research found trawled canyon sediments contained 52 percent less organic matter than the undisturbed seafloor. There were 80 percent fewer sea worms in the trawled region and only half as much diversity of species in the trawled seafloor.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/5/140519-bottom-trawling-seafloor-oceans-damage-science/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920075127/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/5/140519-bottom-trawling-seafloor-oceans-damage-science/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 20, 2020 |title = In Brief: Deep-sea Trawling Has "Devastating" Impact, Study Finds| website=[[National Geographic Society]] |date = 2014-05-19}}</ref> [[Image:Louisiana trawling landsat cropped.jpg|right|thumb|Satellite image of trawler mud trails off the Louisiana coast]] ===Resuspension and biogeochemistry=== Bottom trawling stirs up the sediment at the bottom of the sea. The [[suspended solids|suspended solid]] plumes can drift with the current for tens of kilometres from the source of the trawling, increasing sedimentation rates in deep environments <ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1038/srep43332|title = Bottom-trawling along submarine canyons impacts deep sedimentary regimes|year = 2017|last1 = Paradis|first1 = Sarah|last2 = Puig|first2 = Pere|last3 = Masqué|first3 = Pere|last4 = Juan-Díaz|first4 = Xènia|last5 = Martín|first5 = Jacobo|last6 = Palanques|first6 = Albert|journal = Scientific Reports|volume = 7| issue=1 |page = 43332|pmid = 28233856|pmc = 5324136|bibcode = 2017NatSR...743332P}}</ref> Bottom trawling-induced resuspended sediment mass on the world's continental shelves has been estimated at 22 [[gigatonne]]s per year, approximately the same as the sediment mass supplied to the continental shelves through the world's rivers.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Oberle|first1=Ferdinand K.J.|last2=Storlazzi|first2=Curt D.|last3=Hanebuth|first3=Till J.J.|date=2016|title=What a drag: Quantifying the global impact of chronic bottom trawling on continental shelf sediment|journal=Journal of Marine Systems|language=en|volume=159|pages=109–119|doi=10.1016/j.jmarsys.2015.12.007|bibcode=2016JMS...159..109O}}</ref> These plumes introduce a [[turbidity]] which decreases light levels at the bottom and can affect [[kelp]] reproduction.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Watanabe |first1=Hayato |last2=Ito |first2=Miku |last3=Matsumoto |first3=Akira |last4=Arakawa |first4=Hisayuki |date=2016-01-04 |title=Effects of sediment influx on the settlement and survival of canopy-forming macrophytes |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |page=18677 |doi=10.1038/srep18677 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=4698636 |pmid=26726051|bibcode=2016NatSR...618677W }}</ref> Repeated resuspension can also lead to a hardening of the sea bottom as finer sediments are proportionally more effectively carried away by currents than larger sediments, thus leading to habitat change.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Oberle |first1=Ferdinand K.J. |last2=Swarzenski |first2=Peter W. |last3=Reddy |first3=Christopher M. |last4=Nelson |first4=Robert K. |last5=Baasch |first5=Benjamin |last6=Hanebuth |first6=Till J.J. |date=July 2016 |title=Deciphering the lithological consequences of bottom trawling to sedimentary habitats on the shelf |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S092479631500233X |journal=Journal of Marine Systems |language=en |volume=159 |pages=120–131 |doi=10.1016/j.jmarsys.2015.12.008|bibcode=2016JMS...159..120O |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Bottom trawling can both resuspend and bury biologically recyclable organic material, changing the flow of nutrients and carbon through the food web and thereby alter geomorphological landscapes.<ref name="researchgate.net"/> Ocean sediments are the sink for many [[persistent organic pollutants]], usually [[lipophilic]] pollutants like [[Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane|DDT]], [[Polychlorinated biphenyl|PCB]] and [[Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon|PAH]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Avellan |first1=Astrid |last2=Duarte |first2=Armando |last3=Rocha-Santos |first3=Teresa |date=February 2022 |title=Organic contaminants in marine sediments and seawater: A review for drawing environmental diagnostics and searching for informative predictors |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0048969721070881 |journal=Science of the Total Environment |language=en |volume=808 |pages=152012 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152012|pmid=34856284 |bibcode=2022ScTEn.80852012A |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Bottom trawling mixes these pollutants into the [[plankton|plankton ecology]] where they can move back up the [[food chain]] and into our food supply.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.envpol.2012.06.019|pmid=22842052|title=Bottom trawling resuspends sediment and releases bioavailable contaminants in a polluted fjord|journal=Environmental Pollution|volume=170|pages=232–241|year=2012|last1=Bradshaw|first1=C.|last2=Tjensvoll|first2=I.|last3=Sköld|first3=M.|last4=Allan|first4=I.J.|last5=Molvaer|first5=J.|last6=Magnusson|first6=J.|last7=Naes|first7=K.|last8=Nilsson|first8=H.C.|bibcode=2012EPoll.170..232B }}</ref> [[Phosphorus]] is often found in high concentration in soft shallow sediments.<ref>{{cite book|doi=10.1016/B0-08-043751-6/08153-6|chapter=The Global Phosphorus Cycle|title=Treatise on Geochemistry|pages=585–643|year=2003|last1=Ruttenberg|first1=K.C.|publisher=Elsevier |isbn=9780080437514}}</ref> Resuspending nutrient solids like these can introduce oxygen demand into the water column, and result in oxygen deficient [[Dead zone (ecology)|dead zone]]s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=US Department of Commerce |first1=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |title=What is a dead zone? |url=https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/deadzone.html#:~:text=%22Dead%20zone%22%20is%20a%20more%20common%20term%20for,as%20a%20result%20are%20often%20called%20%22dead%20zones.%22 |website=oceanservice.noaa.gov |access-date=16 October 2020 |language=EN-US}}</ref> Even in areas where the bottom sediments are ancient, bottom trawling, by reintroducing the sediment into the water column, can create [[algae bloom|harmful algae blooms]].<ref>Giannakourou, A., Orlova, T.Y., Assimakopoulou, G., Pagou, K. (2005) ''Dinoflagellate cysts in recent marine sediments from Thermaikos Gulf, Greece.'' Continental Shelf Research 25, 2585-2596. </ref><ref>Weaver, Dallas E (2007) [http://web.mac.com/deweaver/bottom_trawling/Links_to_Docs.html ''Remote Impacts of Bottom Trawling''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410185854/http://web.mac.com/deweaver/bottom_trawling/Links_to_Docs.html |date=2009-04-10 }}.</ref> More suspended solids are introduced into the oceans from bottom trawling than any other man-made source.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Palanques |first1=A. |last2=Guillén |first2=J. |last3=Puig |first3=P. |title=Impact of bottom trawling on water turbidity and muddy sediment of an unfished continental shelf |journal=Limnology and Oceanography |date=July 2001 |volume=46 |issue=5 |pages=1100–1110 |doi=10.4319/lo.2001.46.5.1100 |bibcode=2001LimOc..46.1100P |doi-access=free |hdl=10261/244111 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Multiple large-scale reviews on bottom trawling have noted that there is a great need for further studies that properly examine the effects of nutrient and toxin remobilization as well as [[Carbon cycle|carbon cycling]],<ref>NRC (2002) (National Research Council) Effects of trawling and dredging on seafloor habitat. National Academies Press, Washington, DC</ref><ref>ICES (2006) International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES): report of the WorkingGroup on Ecosystem Effects of Fishing Activities. ACE 05:1 179</ref> in order to better estimate [[greenhouse gas emissions]] and hence the impact on [[climate change]].<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2019-02-01|title=Quantifying and valuing carbon flows and stores in coastal and shelf ecosystems in the UK|journal=Ecosystem Services|language=en|volume=35|pages=67–76|doi=10.1016/j.ecoser.2018.10.013|issn=2212-0416|doi-access=free|last1=Luisetti|first1=Tiziana|last2=Turner|first2=R. Kerry|last3=Andrews|first3=Julian E.|last4=Jickells|first4=Timothy D.|last5=Kröger|first5=Silke|last6=Diesing|first6=Markus|last7=Paltriguera|first7=Lucille|last8=Johnson|first8=Martin T.|last9=Parker|first9=Eleanor R.|last10=Bakker|first10=Dorothee C.E.|last11=Weston|first11=Keith|bibcode=2019EcoSv..35...67L }}</ref> ===Deep sea damage=== [[File:Results of trawling.png|thumb|right|(A) The coral community and seabed on an untrawled seamount. (B) The exposed bedrock of a trawled seamount. Both are {{ Convert | 1,000–2,000 | m }} below the surface.]] The [[Secretary General of the United Nations]] reported in 2006 that 95 percent of damage to [[seamount]] ecosystems worldwide is caused by [[deep sea]] bottom trawling.<ref>Report of the Secretary-General (2006) [https://www.un.org/Depts/los/general_assembly/documents/impact_of_fishing.pdf ''The Impacts of Fishing on Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems'']. [[United Nations]]. Retrieved on 10 August 2008</ref><ref>Reed JK, Koenig CC, Shepard AN, and Gilmore Jr RG (2007) {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100104131308/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/7004 ''Long Term Monitoring of a Deep-water Coral Reef: Effects of Bottom Trawling'']}} Twenty-sixth annual Scientific Diving Symposium. Retrieved on 10 August 2008</ref> A study published in ''[[Current Biology]]'' suggests a cutoff of {{convert|600|m|ft}} is a point which ecological damage increases significantly.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Drawing the line|url = https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21663195-when-regulating-fishing-it-always-helps-have-data-drawing-line|newspaper = The Economist|access-date = 2015-09-18|issn = 0013-0613}}</ref> === Carbon release === An estimated 370 million tonnes a year of carbon dioxide stored in seafloor sediment is released by bottom-trawling fishing.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McVeigh |first=Karen |date=2024-01-18 |title=Carbon released by bottom trawling 'too big to ignore', says study |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/18/carbon-released-by-bottom-trawling-too-big-to-ignore-says-study |access-date=2024-03-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Most carbon released into the sea enters the atmosphere within a decade.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Atwood |first1=Trisha B. |last2=Romanou |first2=Anastasia |last3=DeVries |first3=Tim |last4=Lerner |first4=Paul E. |last5=Mayorga |first5=Juan S. |last6=Bradley |first6=Darcy |last7=Cabral |first7=Reniel B. |last8=Schmidt |first8=Gavin A. |last9=Sala |first9=Enric |date=2024 |title=Atmospheric CO2 emissions and ocean acidification from bottom-trawling |journal=Frontiers in Marine Science |volume=10 |doi=10.3389/fmars.2023.1125137 |doi-access=free |issn=2296-7745}}</ref> Banning bottom trawling in marine protected areas has been suggested.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-03-13 |title=Bottom trawling is huge source of carbon emissions, new study reveals |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/climate-change-bottom-trawling-fishing |access-date=2024-03-13 |website=Environment |language=en}}</ref> ===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 – {{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 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> ===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. ===Failed United Nations ban=== [[Palau]] President [[Tommy Remengesau]] has called for a ban on destructive and unregulated bottom trawling beyond national jurisdictions. Palau has led the effort at the [[United Nations]] and in the [[Pacific]] to achieve a [[Consensus decision-making|consensus]] by countries to take this action at an international level.<ref>[http://www.palauun.org/news_archive.cfm?news_id=76] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060626070249/http://www.palauun.org/news_archive.cfm?news_id=76|date=June 26, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iisd.ca/vol25/enb2525e.html |title=Earth Negotiations Bulletin - ENB SUMMARY OF THE WORKING GROUP ON MARINE BIODIVERSITY BEYOND AREAS OF NATIONAL JURISDICTION - MONDAY, 20 FEBRUARY 2006 |publisher=Iisd.ca |access-date=2013-09-09 |archive-date=2012-07-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722004448/http://www.iisd.ca/vol25/enb2525e.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Palau has been joined by the [[Federated States of Micronesia]], the [[Republic of the Marshall Islands]], and [[Tuvalu]] in supporting an interim bottom trawling ban at the United Nations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0608/S00026.htm |title=Pacific Leaders Back Bottom Trawling Ban | Scoop News |publisher=Scoop.co.nz |access-date=2013-09-09}}</ref> The proposal for this ban did not result in any actual legislation and was blocked.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6181396.stm |title=Science/Nature | Ban on 'brutal' fishing blocked |work=BBC News |date=2006-11-24 |access-date=2013-09-09}}</ref> In 2006, [[New Zealand]] Fisheries Minister [[Jim Anderton]] promised to support a global ban on bottom trawling if there was sufficient support to make that a practical option. Bottom trawling has been banned in a third of New Zealand's waters (although a large percentage of these areas were not viable for bottom trawling in the first place) <ref name="nzherald1"/>
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