Good news for Herring and Bass

[blondterror]

Yes no one is pleased to see the loss of 140 local jobs but the BIG PICTURE is more important...

Trawling is akin to strip mining of the ocean.. take a read thru some of these links and see what the true cost of trawling has on the marine ecosystem.

The fishery will be much improved for all types of fishing with the elimination of trawling... I think it was a mistake to allow any type of trawling in the FIRST place

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Devastation of Trawling Visible from Space | LiveScience

Impacts of Bottom Trawling — Alaska Marine Conservation Council
JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie

Effects of trawling on seafloor habitat and associated invertebrate taxa in the Gulf of Alaska
EarthTrends: Feature - The Impact of Global Trawling: Mapping our Footprint on the Seafloor

[blondterror]

This is a better link that details pelagic pair trawling which is what the New Bedford operation does for mackeral...

Bottom trawling - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[MakoMike]

Originally Posted by blondterror

Yes no one is pleased to see the loss of 140 local jobs but the BIG PICTURE is more important...

Trawling is akin to strip mining of the ocean.. take a read thru some of these links and see what the true cost of trawling has on the marine ecosystem.

The fishery will be much improved for all types of fishing with the elimination of trawling... I think it was a mistake to allow any type of trawling in the FIRST place

---------------------------------------------------

Devastation of Trawling Visible from Space | LiveScience

Impacts of Bottom Trawling — Alaska Marine Conservation Council
JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie

Effects of trawling on seafloor habitat and associated invertebrate taxa in the Gulf of Alaska
EarthTrends: Feature - The Impact of Global Trawling: Mapping our Footprint on the Seafloor

Even if I believed all that drivel, these boats weren't bottom trawling, they were midwater trawling, like the squid boats.

URI has done some whey interesting studies on the impact of bottom trawling on the marine bottom, but you won't hear about it on the tree-hugger websites because the news isn't sensational.

The "big picture" is only important when its not your job they are eliminating.

[JackK]

Yep... Strip mining is way too harsh... Draggers work established fishing grounds, they just don't go anywhere they please. Unknown grounds = hangups, which can result in loss of expensive gear and at worst a vessel capsizing. Most of these grounds have been fished heavily for over fifty years- not like they're doing additional damage (although one can argue that the damage was reprehensible in the first place).

And some studies have shown that fish activity is increased in areas that are dragged... much akin to rototilling a field to seed, the actions of the trawlers stir up benthic invertebrates, and many fish move into the area to feed.

I'm not saying it's zero-impact: Far from it, that's for sure. But it's far from the 'strip mining' and 'destroying coral reefs' that Kurlansky and much of the media would have you believe.

But like MM said, these are pelagic trawlers, so it's apples to oranges... On NORPEL, sad to see the loss of so many jobs to hard working people, but glad to see the baitfish get a break.

[MAKAI]

Originally Posted by JackK

Yep... Strip mining is way too harsh... Draggers work established fishing grounds, they just don't go anywhere they please. Unknown grounds = hangups, which can result in loss of expensive gear and at worst a vessel capsizing. Most of these grounds have been fished heavily for over fifty years- not like they're doing additional damage (although one can argue that the damage was reprehensible in the first place).

And some studies have shown that fish activity is increased in areas that are dragged... much akin to rototilling a field to seed, the actions of the trawlers stir up benthic invertebrates, and many fish move into the area to feed.

I'm not saying it's zero-impact: Far from it, that's for sure. But it's far from the 'strip mining' and 'destroying coral reefs' that Kurlansky and much of the media would have you believe.

But like MM said, these are pelagic trawlers, so it's apples to oranges... On NORPEL, sad to see the loss of so many jobs to hard working people, but glad to see the baitfish get a break.

Not sure, but I think "Globally " bottom draggers are like bulldozing the forest to catch the squirrels. Effective but perverse.