Ocean discoverers are calling for an end to the damage caused by industrial fishing

Ocean discoverers are calling for an end to the damage caused by industrial fishing

The world's oceans are threatened by rising water temperatures, navy pollution and overfishing. The effects are visible on flat ecosystems by coral bleaching, but less is known about the effects on deeper areas of the ocean, such as the mesophotic or "twilight zone", which extends between 30 and 150 meters below the water surface.

research in the twilight zone

In this area, Ghislain Bardout and Emmanuelle Périé-Bardout, a couple and ocean researchers from France, concentrate. You have founded the organization "Under the Pole", which conducts diving trips to collect scientific knowledge about these extreme, unexplored environments as part of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative.

The consequences of the towing network catch

You have first -handed the negative effects of towing network trap, a fishing method in which heavy -weight nets are pulled across the sea floor to catch types such as cod, SeeHecht and shrimp. About a quarter of the entire wildly caught sea food is caught annually.

While the heavy networks scratch over the bottom of the ocean, they collect undesirable accompaniment and damage reefs and sea grass meadows, which leads to the destruction of precious ecosystems. Despite these negative effects, this practice is widespread worldwide, also in some marine protected areas (MPAs), such as in the French Mediterranean.

expeditions in the Mediterranean

This year the Bardouts carried out a number of expeditions in the Mediterranean. As a guest editor of the CNN series "Call to Earth", which reports on the environmental problems of our planet and possible solutions, they talked about the threats to threaten the mesophic zone and what to do to protect them.

The effects of the towing network trap on biodiversity

cnn: What is towing network and why is it so harmful to the ocean - especially for the mesophic zone?
Emmanuelle Périé-bardout: The towing network trap is a fishing method that could be compared to a bulldozer in the forest. If you imagine a forest that is cut down by a bulldozer, you can imagine the risk of biodiversity and life in the forest. It looks just as important in the water with the towing network. The problem is that we do not see the damage in the ocean. Drug truck happens every day and every day, and it causes massive damage to biodiversity, which you do not see.

Can the ocean recover?

cnn: How long does it take for corals to grow back after such damage? Can these ocean ecosystems recover from it?
ghislain bardout: It can take centuries for the ecosystem to recover. It depends on the species, but most grow very slowly. For example, black corals that look like underwater trees and can grow up to one and a half meters can be 200 to 600 years old. They can be destroyed by a towing network in just a few seconds. If they are destroyed, you quickly lose the entire ecosystem - all fish, all mussels and all different types that form this ecosystem.

destroyed ecosystems in the Mediterranean

cnn: This summer they discovered a rich Marine's animal forest ecosystem in Fourni, Greece. Have you seen signs of industrial fishing there?
emmanuelle: When we first dived in the Marine Tierwald in Fourni, we saw the traces of a truck near the forest.
ghislain: This rich ecosystem is located on some rocks, surrounded by sand levels. When the fishermen drag, try to stay as close as possible to this rich ecosystem, but they try not to fish on it because the rocks could damage the nets. Indirectly, however, fishing near these rich ecosystems is very harmful, since it not only leads to physical destruction, but also generates mud clouds that then fall on the ecosystem and destroy life.

The importance of documentation

cnn: How does the documentation of these deep ecosystems help to secure their protection? ghislain: Without knowledge about what and where to protect, regulations have no value. You have to know where these regulations can be applied. You need knowledge of these ecosystems: Where are you, what types live there, what are the conditions and threats to these ecosystems? With a good understanding of this, the protective measures can be adjusted accordingly.

protective measures and future hopes

cnn: Which existing protective measures are there for these deep ecosystems in the Mediterranean?
Emmanuelle: This year Greece was the first European country to announce that it would ban the truck trap in its protected areas by 2030. It is a small step, but better than nothing. England has also announced that they will prohibit the towing network in most of their marine protected areas. These are positive developments, but we are waiting for the United Nations Ocean Conference, which will take place next June in Nice, France.

ghislain: local, selective and small -scale fishing with many small boats makes sense and also improves the distribution of resources and economic advantages. In contrast, industrial fishing is strongly concentrated and benefits unproofed from the global resources of the oceans.

further threats for the mesophic zone

cnn: In addition to the towing network, which other threats to the ocean's mesophic zone met during your research?
ghislain: there is global warming and plastic pollution. The effects of global warming on the ocean can be enormous, especially in flat waters. This year was an extremely strong bleaching year. In our studies in French-Polynesia, including the Mesophotic zone, we only noticed minimal bleaching at a depth of over 30 or 40 meters. Something similar happens in the Mediterranean with the Gorgonian corals: While they have been destroyed in flat waters by heat waves in recent years, they are protected in the deeper regions.

Emmanuelle: We are often asked for solutions and technologies. It is important to work on solutions. But if there is a fire in the forest, you won't plant seeds before you have deleted the fire. That is why marine protected areas are important - they give us the time we need to extinguish the fire.