Florida’s Oculina coral reefs were reduced to rubble with bottom trawling identified as the main cause. The most significant spawning grounds were destroyed and the area was closed to bottom trawling in 1994. By the time the extent of damage was realized, an area 1,029 km sq. had to be closed to all fishing activity (equal to about twice the land area of all the Southern Gulf Islands in B.C). Efforts to restore the area, using techniques such as artificial reef balls, are now under way.
In Northern Europe, the depletion of traditional fish stocks has meant that bottom trawling occurs in deeper waters where the gear has effected coral beds. The towed nets break up the reef structure, kill the coral polyps and expose the reef to sediment. Fish and invertebrates dependent on these reefs lose their habitat and move out of the area. Norway estimates that 30 to 50 percent of corals on the Norwegian Shelf have been destroyed by bottom trawling, and have closed the Sula Reef, an area 1,600 km sq., to this gear type.
