Bottom trawling has been around the news here and there, but how much do you know about it? It is the the most commercially used method of catching fish in large groups to be sold for large profit. But what you may not know is that it is the most detrimental, consumer based operation there is going.
Bottom trawling is the practice of draging an exceedingly large net behind large fishing boats to obtain the bottom dwelling fish such as sole and halibut. These, of course, are not the only fish caught as the net is dragged along the ocean floor. The fish caught that are unwanted are thrown back into the water dead or dying, succesfully destroying the ecosystem along with them.
Apart from the unwanted fish being carelessly thrown back, the damage done to the coral reefs and the ecosystem in a whole is nothing to ignore. Studies have shown that the environmental impact from this industrial practice have taken more than a year to begin to show signs of recovery in the most extreme situations. As the number of consumers increase each year, this method will only become more harmful as they expand the bottom trawls to other locations to try and keep up to par with commercial needs.
Signing and sharing this petition is the best way to raise the awareness needed for this issue. This needs to be brought to attention while there is still an environment on our coastal shores.
