Troublesome Trawling

Since we are all in college (assuming my audience is solely comprised of my classmates) I bet its safe to say that all of us have experienced the gruesome pain of a razor cut. Its painful, can leave a scar, is bloody, and is the result of hurried, careless shaving.

Now we're going to talk about trawling. Trawling, much like careless shaving, involves scraping a weighted fishing net in hopes of catching large quantities of fish. Unfortunately, again like the razor analogy, these trawlers don't just get hair, but important aspects of the ocean. This includes ocean floor, habitats, other fish and sea creatures, and it stirs up sediment. Trawling, too, leaves behinds scars (yes! literal scars on the ocean floor!), devestation, and a mess.

Since 2012, Seafish Tasmania has been trying to devastate the ocean floors of Tasmania with the world's second largest trawler. Fortunately, the Tasmanian government has stepped in and has issued a ban on their boat because of its size. However, that may change very soon. Not only has the Tasmanian government been increasing quota sizes, but they are considering allowing the ban of the large trawler to be lifted, as soon as a management plan has been issued.

Trawling Scars on the Ocean Floor

However, managing a trawler of that size seems pointless given that it will be devastating if they are allowed to fish at all. I fear for the currently depleting fish populations of the Tasmanian waters, the endangered beauty of the virgin ocean floors of the barely-trawled waters, and how this will set a precedent for future Tasmanian fishing. I hope that the government of Tasmania will learn from the mistakes of other governments like the US that have allowed their fishers to scar their oceans. 

Author:

Alicia

Sources:

http://au/news/2015-02-13/seafish-tasmania-given-approval-to-fish-quota/