A study led by scientists from the Polytechnic University of
Marche (Ancona, Italy) involving researchers from the Institute of Marine
Sciences (ICM, CSIC) and the UAB has determined that fishing trawling causes
intensive, long-term biological desertification of the sedimentary seabed
ecosystems, diminishing their content in organic carbon and threatening their
biodiversity.
Trawling is the most commonly used extraction methods of sea
living resources used around the world, but at the same time, it is also one of
the main causes of degradation of the seabed. This fishing practice originated
in the second half of the fourteenth century, and in the last thirty years has
grown exponentially, being progressively expanding towards greater depths in
the ocean.