Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Dredging up fish dinners does lasting damage to the sea floor

Bottom trawling not only erodes the sea bed, but also reduces its carbon-storage capacity.
Fishing boat / Trawler on the North Sea dragging fishing nets, Ostend, Belgium.

Dragging nets and other fishing gear across the sea floor can cut the amount of carbon stored in sediments. Credit: Alamy

A common fishing method called bottom trawling causes potentially irreversible erosion of the sea floor and could reduce the ocean’s ability to bury carbon.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 589, 172 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03625-2

References

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links