While Trawlers Race to Privatize the Gulf of Alaska New Studies Find Trawling is Terribly Destructive. But is that news?

"Now a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds this method (trawling) is also resulting in long term, far reaching consequences in the deeper ocean and beyond."

And...

"In the North Pacific, the practice accounts for 18% of the annual groundfish harvests, and 82% of the region's discarded bycatch.  At times, bycatch accounts for 90% of a net's total catch."

So the big money has not silenced all of fish science.  The money that the trawl industry produces does influence both local and regional governments and extends its influence to science, especially NOAA's.

"In addition to directly killing many fish and other marine species, studies have shown that bottom trawling is very destructive to the seabed.  It dislodges sediment, which destroys habitat of the ground dwelling organisms, makes the water more opaque and unsuitable to many species, and releases pollutants and carbon that had been trapped below the seafloor."

More at: http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0528-morgan-trawling.html#Li6bKGolL6XuM30T.03

Keep yer flippers wet.