Final signature count: 18,388

18,388 signatures toward our 30,000 goal

Bottom trawling is a method of fishing that uses a net pulled throughout the lower layers of the ocean via wires connected to the boat, as well as weights dragged along the ocean floor connected to both the net and the boat1.

This type of fishing ends up with a lot of bycatch, fish and other creatures that are not profitable, and leaves many fish dead or severely injured.

The weights used in bottom trawling can permanently destroy entire seafloor habitats. Centuries-old coral beds, which many types of species rely on for food and shelter, can be wiped out in an instant. Bottom trawling kills vast numbers of corals, sponges, fishes and other animals, and satellite images show that spreading clouds of mud remain suspended in the sea long after the trawler has passed2.

Bottom trawling has been a significant contributor to the fact that 90% of the surfaces where coral used to grow in waters off Southeast Australia are now bare rock3.

Massive “supertrawlers” were banned in 2014 off the west and south coasts of Australia, but other large trawling ships are still being allowed to operate4. In 2016 in Europe, bottom trawling was banned in waters deeper than 800 meters5. In the U.S., the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has imposed a permanent ban on bottom trawling in 150,000 square miles of federally-controlled waters off the West coast of the United States6.

This is not enough. The world’s oceans are still being devastated by trawling where bans are not in place.

We must call for a complete ban on the use of bottom trawling that makes contact with the ocean floor. Sign the petition and ask the U.S. government to prohibit destructive bottom trawling and save our oceans!