Transcript Conference on the Protection of the Deep Sea

Conference on the
Protection of the Deep Sea
Paris, Grand Palais
16 September 2013
Rainer Froese, GEOMAR, Kiel, Germany
Destruction by Bottom Trawling
before
after
Photos: Dr. K. Sainsbury, CSIRO
Aphanopus carbo
Black scabbardfish
Sable noir
110 cm, 32 years
200 – 1700 m
No stock status data
Catch 2011: 6000 tonnes
Molva dypterygia
Blue ling
Lingue bleue
155 cm, 20+ years
150 – 1000 m
Advice: no direct fisheries
Catch 2011: 10000 tonnes
Coryphaenoides rupestris
Grenadierfish
Grenadier de roche
110 cm, 54 years
400 – 1200 m
Advice: reduce catch
Catch 2011: 6600 tonnes
Deep Sea bottom trawling
is like bulldozing a forest
to catch a few foxes
• Damage to ecosystem is massive
• Catches for human consumption are negligible
– Who wants to eat foxes?
• Cost are prohibitive (only possible with subsidies)
• Potential consequences are poorly understood
Hydrogen Sulfide Eruption
along the Coast of Namibia
A milky green cloud of water off the
Namib Desert coast of Namibia in
southern Africa is a tell-tale sign of
sulfur rising to the surface. The
yellowish clouds of sulfur come from
hydrogen sulfide gas produced by
anaerobic bacteria (bacteria that can
live without oxygen) at the ocean floor.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=12831
Conclusions
• Deep Sea fishing is not needed and
economically not viable
• Deep Sea trawling has the potential to destroy
the delicate balance between the upper
Ocean and the Deep Sea
• The consequences of a disturbed balance are
poorly understood but may include expansion
of oxygen minimum zones and hydrogen
sulfide eruptions