Jump to main content or area navigation.

Contact Us

ReefLink Database

Trawling & Fishing Gear Damage

Trawling & Fishing Gear Damage

Activities of fishing boats can cause damage to reefs. Trawling is one type of fishing that usually occurs in deeper waters in which a large net is dragged behind a boat. Other fishing gear includes hooks, lines, spear guns, and seining nets.

CMap

Anchoring may cause damage when boats or ships drop or drag anchors across reef habitat. Boating activities include movement of boats and ships through deep or shallow water, as well as in and out of harbor or around buoys. Boating activities include movement in coastal waters and into ports that can lead to anchor drops or vessel groundings, or damage from trawling and other fishing gear. Boating Regulations are restrictions placed on boating activities to promote safety for boaters and the natural environment, and can include mooring buoys, registration and licensing, and speed limits. Coastal Defense is the protection of the country's coastline, including the Coast Guard and federal, state, or local agencies involved in coastal law enforcement. Commercial Fishing Boats includes industries that operate fishing boats to harvest and transport aquatic species for commercial profit. The Cruise Ship industry utilizes large ships to transport tourists between coastal locations, providing food, entertainment, and accommodation. Cultural services are the nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, recreational opportunities, aesthetic experiences, sense of place, and educational and research opportunities. Culture sectors contribute to the social, emotional, and intellectual well-being of the community. Designated uses are a state's concise statements of its management objectives and expectations for each of the individual surface waters under its jurisdiction. Dredging regulations are decisions or policies to control the location or intensity of physically damaging activities such as dredging, draining, or filling. Ecosystem monitoring and restoration refers to responses to directly alter the condition of the reef ecosystem through restoration or remediation activities, setting limits on degradation through biological criteria or water quality criteria, or improving knowledge through monitoring, mapping, and scientific research. Ecosystem services are the benefits people obtain from ecosystems . Fishing & harvesting management controls the activities which harvest fish and invertebrates, including commercial and recreational fishing. The Fishing Sector includes the harvesting of fish for food and recreation. The Food and Raw Materials sector includes groups that harvest natural resources from the earth, including agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, forestry, mining, and the oil and gas industry. Infrastructural policies are responses, including zoning, codes, or regulations, that impact the distribution and functioning of socio-economic sectors that provide infrastructure. Large Ships includes commercial shipping and the military, which operate large watercraft for transportation of goods or people. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are Any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by federal, state, tribal, territorial, or local laws or regulations to provide lasting protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein. The Oil and Gas Industry specializes in the finding of natural resources such as crude petroleum and natural gas, and the creation, maintenance, and operation of wells to extract the oil and gas from the earth and prepare it for sale. Oil and Gas Tankers deal with the bulk transport of gas and oil by ships. The Reef Ecosystem includes a suite of abiotic variables that form the physical and chemical environment. Physical Damage to reef habitat and wetlands can occur from vessel groundings, dredging, trampling, boat movement, anchor drops, trawling, and fishing gear. Pressures are human activities that create stress on the environment. Provisioning services are the products or ecosystem goods obtained from ecosystems, including seafood, genetic and biochemical resources, pharmaceuticals, ornamental resources, and water resources. The state of the Reef Ecosystem is the condition, in terms of quantity and quality, of the abiotic and biotic components including physical, chemical, and biological variables. Reef Habitat is the abundance, distribution, and condition of the benthic components of the reef ecosystem. Reef Life is the abundance, distribution, and condition of the biological components of the coral reef ecosystem. Regulating Services are benefits obtained from ecosystem processes that regulate the environment, including erosion regulation, natural hazard regulation, and climate regulation. Resource use management pertains to responses to regulate or limit contact activities that may directly impact coastal species through harvesting or physical damage. Responses are actions taken by groups or individuals in society and government to prevent, compensate, ameliorate or adapt to changes in Ecosystem Services or their perceived value. The Security Sector provides security to the country and its people effectively and under democratic principles. Sediment includes dirt, sand, silt, clay, and small rocks that form soil on land or soft substrate in marine habitats, and may be transported by water, wind, or human activities. Shipping, Warehousing, and Storing pertains to the transportation and safe storage of goods for wholesale or retail trade. Small Boats includes the provision, maintenance, and operation of small, privately owned boats used for recreation, fishing, tours, or other purposes. Socio-Economic Drivers include the sectors that fulfill human needs for Food & Raw Materials, Water, Shelter, Health, Culture, and Security, and the Infrastructure that supports the sectors. Supporting services are ecological processes that indirectly benefit humans by maintaining a functional ecosystem for the production of other ecosystem goods and services. Tourism & Recreation sectors operate facilities and provide services for the varied cultural, entertainment, and recreational interests of residents and tourists. The Transportation Sector involves comprises all modes of transportation (Aviation, Maritime, Mass Transit, Highway, Freight Rail, and Pipeline) The Transportation Systems Sector is segmented into six key subsectors, or modes, which operate independently within both a regulated and non-regulated environment, yet are also highly interdependent. Transportation management includes policies, regulations, and zoning designed to control the distribution and intensity of transportation networks, including roads and shipping channels, and vehicles, including cars, boats, and ships. Activities of fishing boats can cause damage to reefs. Water Transportation pertains to all transportation of people and goods via waterways. Wetland and reef restoration are activities to directly improve, reestablish, or repair degraded ecosystems. A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally.

CMap Description

Fishing, tourism, recreation, shipping, and coastal defense rely on water transportation. Boat and ship activities can lead to groundings, anchor drops, or use of fishing gear that can damage reef habitat, and movement can cause deposition and resuspension of sediment in the reef environment. Fishing gear, such as trawling nets, can damage deepwater reefs, or cause injury to reef inhabitants, including fish and larger vertebrates. Many of the same socio-economic sectors that cause physical damage through boating activities also benefit from reef ecosystem services, including recreational value, shoreline protection, and provision of seafood and other marine products. Resource use management can be used to minimize physical damage by establishing protected areas and boating regulations, such as mooring buoys, fines, and low-wake zones to minimize sediment resuspension or groundings. Fishing regulations can influence activities and locations of fishing boats and types of fishing gear used.

Jump to main content.