Aquatic Environment and Biodiversity Annual Review 2012

AEBAR 2012: Benthic impacts
Figure 7.3: Map from Ministry of Fisheries website showing the general locations of Benthic Protection Areas (BPAs)
(http://www.fish.govt.nz/ennz/Environmental/Seabed+Protection+and+Research/Benthic+Protection+Areas.htm?wbc_purpose=basic&WBCMODE=pr
esentationunpublished&MSHiC=65001&L=10&W=BPA%20&Pre=%3Cspan%20class%3d'SearchHighlight'%3E&Post=%
3C/span%3E). See also Helson et al. 2009.
7.2. Global understanding
Concerns about the use of towed fishing gear on benthic habitats were first raised by fishermen in the
fourteenth century in the UK (Lokkeborg 2005). They were worried about the capture of juvenile fish
and the detrimental effects on food sources for harvestable fish. Despite this long history of concern,
it is really only in the last 20 years that research efforts have focused strongly on the effects of mobile
bottom fishing methods on benthic (seabed) communities, biodiversity, and production. This activity,
combined with controversy around fishing effects, has spawned numerous reviews in the past 10 years
that seek to summarise or synthesise the information (Jones 1992, Dayton et al. 1995; Jennings and
Kaiser 1998; Watling and Norse 1998; Lindeboom and deGroot 1998, Auster and Langton 1999; Hall
1999; ICES 2000a and b, Kaiser and de Groot 2000; NMFS 2002, NRC 2002, Dayton et al. 2002;
Thrush and Dayton 2002; Lokkeborg 2005, Barnes and Thomas 2005, Clark and Koslow 2007).
Benthic habitats provide shelter and refuge for juvenile fish and the associated fauna can be the prey
of demersal fish species. Towed fishing gears (particularly trawl doors), affect benthic habitats and
organisms and the level of effect will depend on the type of trawl doors and ground gear used, and the
physical and biological characteristics of seabed habitats in the fishing grounds. The effects are
164