Hiddink et al (2026) Assessment of Bottom Trawl Impacts on the Status of Seabed Communities in European Seas Fish and Fisheries
This large Europe-wide study provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of how bottom trawling affects seabed communities across different regions and habitats. Using quantitative indicators, the authors show that most European seabed habitats remain in good condition, with over 75% of habitat–region combinations maintaining healthy overall benthic biomass, despite ongoing trawling activity. Impacts are highly uneven, with the strongest effects concentrated in a limited number of regions and habitats—particularly muddy seabeds in parts of the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas—while large areas of the Baltic, Black and Aegean-Levantine Seas show low trawling intensity and high seabed status. The study also finds that sensitive, long-lived species are more affected than the benthic community as a whole, highlighting why management should focus on fishing intensity and habitat sensitivity rather than blanket bans. Overall, the paper demonstrates that bottom fishing and healthy seabed ecosystems can coexist when fishing pressure is appropriately managed, providing a science-based framework to balance sustainable seafood production with ecosystem protection in European waters
