When the researchers from the Institute of Marine Research saw video from the Arctic sea area outside Svalbard, they were surprised. They had expected to find large areas of untouched seabed. Instead, they found hundreds of meters of trawl tracks. Naturalists are worried about the findings and think it is crazy to destroy the food dish of the fish we eat. The Directorate of Fisheries is not surprised, but promises a fine and improvement. – Not a good chance of survival This summer, several researchers from the Institute of Marine Research were on a voyage. They were looking for rare species. And they found what they were looking for. – I did not expect to find the bamboo coral, which you can otherwise find outside Egersund. That’s according to tour leader and researcher Pål Buhl-Mortensen. Fish leader and researcher Pål Buhl-Mortensen says that the species on the seabed do not have a good chance of survival when the seabed is trawled so densely. Photo: Christine Fagerbakke / HI But they also found something they hadn’t expected: hundreds of meters of trawl tracks. The marine researchers examined 122 locations. Within the area where it is legal to fish with bottom trawl today, the researchers took many random samples. There, 52 percent of the seabed was affected by trawling. Marine researchers from the Institute of Marine Research followed what trawl tracks on the seabed outside Svalbard looked like with several screens in the research ship Mareano. Photo: Havforskningsinstituttet – In the most trawled localities, the tracks were very dense. As close as only three meters between each track, says Buhl-Mortensen and adds: – Then it indicates that the bottom is very affected. The species do not get a very good chance of survival. On the seabed there are many vulnerable species such as the Umbellula sea feather. Many of them do not tolerate being trawled. Photo: Pål Buhl-Mortensen / HI On the trip, the researchers found species such as umbellula sea feathers, pigtail coral and bamboo coral. They are all considered very vulnerable. – It is a threat to survival for these species, says the tour leader. Most Russian trawlers North of Svalbard, the fishermen have new areas to fish in because the ice has retreated. Only in the last ten years has it been available for trawl fishing. news has obtained an overview of who is fishing with trawls in the area. With this robot, the Institute of Marine Research saw what the seabed outside Svalbard now looks like. Photo: Havforskningsinstituttet Almost 60 per cent of the trawling activity for shrimp and cod in this area is carried out by Russia. The rest is accounted for by Norway and nine other nations, according to figures from the Norwegian Institute for Natural Sciences (NINA). – They use large bottom trawlers with heavy doors that expand the trawl bag. They saw tracks that are quite deep. It’s like plows going through the landscape, says Buhl-Mortensen. The seabed outside Svalbard may look desolate, but here the researchers find a lot of life in what until recently was untouched nature. Photo: Institute of Marine Research Senior researcher Per Fauchald at the Norwegian Institute for Natural Research (NINA) is very concerned about the findings. – This area north of Svalbard is high arctic. For large parts of the year, it is covered by sea ice. Until recently, it has been inaccessible to humans, he says. – It turns out that these areas are quite vulnerable. Lots of animals living there that have been untouched for thousands of years. Fauchald says that the consequence of trawling is that the corals, like this bamboo coral, are destroyed and the sediment is stirred up. It changes society on the seabed. Photo: PÅL BUHL-MORTENSEN / HI – There are great values that are taken up here, and there is food for people. Isn’t that good? – That’s good, but we can’t produce food that goes beyond the natural basis that makes the food we’re going to harvest. There are major changes in the Arctic now, and the researcher says that they do not know how it will turn out in the long term. – But one thing that is certain is that this type of disruption is not lucky. The Directorate of Fisheries is not surprised The Directorate of Fisheries is not surprised that there are trawl tracks in this area as it is legal to fish there. More than half of the sites that the marine researchers looked at from 200 to 400 meters deep were trawled by fishing vessels. In some places there were only three meters between tracks. Photo: Havforskningsinstituttet – From a fisheries perspective, it is important that the shrimp resource is put to good use. The challenge is that the trawl is a traveling vessel that can leave traces in the wet seabed and affect the bottom substrate, says Dagfinn Lilleng, senior adviser to the environment section in the Directorate of Fisheries. In an e-mail to news, he writes that they will work together with researchers and the industry to find solutions that can make the trawl more gentle on the seabed. – In order to be able to take advantage of the journey, the minimum permitted mesh size is 35 mm, and it is mandatory to use a sorting grid that separates fish from the prawn catches on the seabed, says Lilleng. Vessels fishing in the area must, for each catch, calculate quantitative indicators of vulnerable marine ecosystems, such as living corals and living sponges. If there is a collision, the incident must be reported to the Directorate of Fisheries and the fish must be moved two nautical miles from the vulnerable marine ecosystem, according to the regulations. Photo: Havforskningsinstituttet The senior advisor adds that today’s vessels that are used in these areas are designed to fish in areas with a lot of drift ice at times. In addition, there are strict regulations for fishing in the area with several requirements that must be met in order to obtain a licence. Need more mapping Buhl-Mortensen from the Institute of Marine Research says he himself enjoys eating fish and prawns, and is aware that some of it can only be fished with bottom trawling. – Then I think it is very important to map the seabed so that you can avoid the places where it causes the most damage to species and the environment. Fauchald in NINA believes that the Norwegian authorities must intensify their work with protection. – I really hope that the work to protect these areas continues and put pressure on sustainable management, he says.
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Marine researchers found large amounts of trawl tracks on the seabed in “unspoiled” nature outside Svalbard – news Nordland
