Trawling Impacts on Benthic Carbon Sequestration, Storage, and Processing: A Systematic Review

Marine sediments are a significant sink for anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂)¹. Bottom trawl fisheries constitute the most widespread physical disturbance to carbon-rich seabed habitats². Recent research has sparked concern that this disturbance can turn marine sediments into a large source of CO₂³, but this is subject to ongoing debate^4,5,6. Uncertainties exist regarding the effect of bottom trawling on carbon sequestration, remineralisation, and storage. To address this, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the existing literature to assemble a comprehensive, up-to-date database looking at how demersal mobile fishing affects: (i) the amount and type of carbon found in benthic sediments; (iii) the geochemical, biological, and physical parameters which control the fate of benthic carbon; (iii) the magnitude and direction of benthic-pelagic carbon fluxes; and (iv) the geochemical, biological, and physical parameters which control the fate of resuspended carbon. Here we present methodological details alongside preliminary findings of the resultant meta-analysis. We highlight the parameters which carry the greatest and least uncertainties and suggest key knowledge gaps to help target future field and laboratory studies to help better constrain the effect of bottom trawling on the benthic-pelagic carbon fluxes and processing.

1. Atwood et al., 2020. Global patterns in marine sediment carbon stocks. Frontiers in Marine Science; 2. Hiddink et al., 2017. Global analysis of depletion and recovery of seabed biota after bottom trawling disturbance. PNAS; 3. Sala et al., 2021. Protecting the global ocean for biodiversity, food and climate. Nature; 4. Hilborn and Kaiser, 2022. A path forward for analysing the impacts of marine protected areas. Nature; 5. Hiddink et al., 2023. Quantifying the carbon benefits of ending bottom trawling. Nature; 6. Atwood et al., 2023. Reply to: Quantifying the carbon benefits of ending bottom trawling. Nature.