Trawls impact on the seabed in oxygen depleted areas

Danish waters are increasingly affected by oxygen depletion, which affects both fish and benthic organisms. Fisheries monitoring data shows that bottom trawling frequently takes place within oxygen depletion areas, but there is very little knowledge of the effects on the seabed. The few studies that have been done, indicate that there are no cross-effects of oxygen depletion and trawling on the investigated benthic communities. The management implications are that the conservation effect of fishery closures is larger in areas not affected by oxygen depletion. With the present study, we want to explore this implication by quantifying the depletion of benthic fauna caused by bottom trawling under poor oxygen conditions.