Francis Neat ‘This information will be important in the up-coming European Parliament debate on prohibition of deep-sea trawling. Draws mainly on Marine Scotland data. Suggests max trawling depth should be somewhere between 600-800m. To read more click here:

http://www.nature.com/news/evidence-supports-trawling-depth-limit-1.18254

Trawling should be restricted below 600 metres, research suggests.   The first scientific evidence that trawling in waters deeper than 600 metres is ecologically damaging and provides poor economic return is reigniting debate about the controversial fishing practice. For years, European scientists, environmentalists, politicians and commercial fishermen have debated whether or how to limit deep-sea trawling, which critics say causes huge damage to ocean ecosystems. The latest findings, which use survey data to assess how the ratio of undesired fish to commercially valuable ones changes with depth, are published in Current Biology¹.

“I think they’re pretty robust,” says Les Watling, a deep-sea biologist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, of the results. “They are basically saying you are wasting your time fishing below 600 metres.” Watling, who has worked as a science adviser for environmental groups pushing for a ban on trawling, adds, “This is the first really good set of science data that essentially ratifies the idea that having some kind of depth limit to deep-sea trawling would be worthwhile and would not create an economic hardship.”