Atmospheric CO2 emissions and ocean acidification from bottom-trawling
Atmospheric CO2 emissions and ocean acidification from bottom-trawling
Published 22 January 2024 Science Leave a CommentTags: biogeochemistry, chemistry, fisheries, globalmodeling, modeling
Trawling the seafloor can disturb carbon that took millennia to accumulate, but the fate of that carbon and its impact on climate and ecosystems remains unknown. Using satellite-inferred fishing events and carbon cycle models, we find that 55-60% of trawling-induced aqueous CO2 is released to the atmosphere over 7-9 years. Using recent estimates of bottom trawling’s impact on sedimentary carbon, we found that between 1996-2020 trawling could have released, at the global scale, up to 0.34-0.37 Pg CO2 yr-1 to the atmosphere, and locally altered water pH in some semi-enclosed and heavy trawled seas. Our results suggest that the management of bottom-trawling efforts could be an important climate solution.
Atwood T. B., Romanou A., DeVries T., Lerner P. E., Mayorga J. S,, Bradley D., Cabral R. B., Schmidt G. A. & Sala E., 2024. Atmospheric CO2 emissions and ocean acidification from bottom-trawling. Frontiers in Marine Science 10: 1125137. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2023.1125137. Article.
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