How is bottom trawling harming the economy?

Show Notes

In this episode of Upwell, we chat with Zoë Croft, the director of sales at Atlantic Sea Farms, whose team is helping fishermen in Maine grow seaweed to diversify their incomes as climate change and warming waters present challenges to the state’s lobster industry.

Zoë shares how the gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99% of all other bodies of water on the planet, how her team at Atlantic Sea Farms is working with 27 partner farmers to grow nearly one million pounds of kelp, and how growing that seaweed has a positive impact on the surrounding marine ecosystem.

You can find Zoë on LinkedIn, and you can learn more about Atlantic Sea Farms on their website, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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Additional resources for this episode

An oped from Atlantic Sea Farms CEO Briana Warner on how Maine leads the United States in seaweed farming
Washington Post article on Atlantic Sea Farms operations
CBS Mornings video highlighting the benefits of seaweed
Washington Post article on Atlantic Sea Farms’ partnership with Sweetgreen
Washington Post article on the potential impact of rising temperatures on Maine’s lobstermen
CNN article on the cancelation of Alaska’s snow crab harvest due to climate change
Christian Science Monitor cover story on Atlantic Sea Farm

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A ban on bottom trawling in marine protected areas (MPAs) is not only good for the environment, it's also good business.

Bottom trawling is economically wasteful: Up to 92% of all recorded fishing discards in the EU come from bottom trawlers.
Bottom trawling weakens industry-wide productivity: By reducing fish diversity, abundance, and size, bottom trawling ultimately lowers the success of fisheries across the EU.
Bottom trawling is one of the most energy-intensive fishing methods: Vessels with bottom trawling gear consume significantly more fuel per catch than those without. Due to this inefficiency, the overall carbon footprint of bottom-trawl fisheries is estimated to be 2.8 times higher than non-trawl fisheries.
Banning bottom trawling increases economic benefits for small-scale, low-impact fisheries: For instance, the landing price of cod in Öresund (between Sweden and Denmark), where bottom trawling is now banned, is twice the value of landing prices in the greater Baltic Sea. This provides additional recreational fishing opportunities and proves that a ban on bottom trawling can drive up fishers’ profits.
Studies show that banning bottom trawling generates billions in long-term economic benefits: Research has shown that 13 years without bottom trawling would produce a return of €3.41 for every €1 spent — net benefits would outweigh adjustment costs less than five years after a ban is put into effect — with a cumulative profit of more than €8 billion over a 20-year period. Short-term costs must not outweigh long-term gains.

Banning bottom trawling is an investment in the EU for the long haul, supporting low-impact fishers that operate without towed gear. Small-scale, low-impact fishers account for the vast majority (75%) of the EU fishing fleet and employ some 50% of its crew — the economic backbone of coastal communities and livelihoods.

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