Bottom-contact fishing is under the spotlight and under pressure the world over. This week, we hear from a science leader who wants us all to work together to make trawling better, and better understood.
The concerns about bottom trawling as a fishing method are not new, but in 2025, they seem stronger than ever. Those in the seafood sector with direct experience of this fishing method know that what we hear in the media about its impacts is often wrong and usually greatly exaggerated. New Zealand fishers are far from alone. Fishers around the world are facing waves of misinformation and negativity about trawling. And many of them don't have the time or money to get their data together and help make the arguments to defend a much-misunderstood fishing method.
Fortunately, Seafood New Zealand is part of a global organisation called ICFA, the International Coalition of Fisheries Associations. ICFA is made up of organsiations like us from a total of 24 countries and territories. It is committed to the sustainable use of marine resources through science, fishery conservation and management practices.
Inside ICFA is a science and research group that has started work on a major project - to create a trawling toolkit which will get to the bottom of the facts about what modern trawling really looks like using the latest science and data. Done right and with the right people involved, it will aim to share knowledge that could change the future of this ubiquitous fishing technology.
The man in charge is Crispian Ashby, who is the General Manager Research and Investment at Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) in Australia.
Crispian is very aware that the public perception of trawling is often out of date and based on old information shared by campaigning environmental groups.
"The fact is we have changed our fishing practices significantly since the 70's and 80's. There has been a huge amount of research which has led to the adoption of new fishing technology and better practices. Our vessels have changed, our gear types have changed and the industry is more efficient and smaller overall. All of this is reducing any potential impact that might be occurring but that story is taking time to be heard and understood."
Crispian wants the New Zealand seafood sector to get involved. If you are a fisher who trawls, or a company that uses this method as part of your day-to-day fishing, he wants to hear from you about what you do and how it has changed over time. And because Seafood New Zealand is in ICFA, you will benefit directly.
"Sharing information will be a powerful thing for ICFA members. It gives us the potential to share ideas and potentially combine existing technologies or develop new ones together. We understand that resourcing is thin on the ground at the moment for everybody, but that's the benefit of working together - creating a community of shared ideas, sharing knowledge, getting involved and asking questions and then sharing the results for the benefit of all of us, because we're all experiencing the same problems.
"The toolkit will look at some key topics of interest. We want to understand what is being said about trawling out there around the world. Then we want to do a robust review of the science to determine what is fact and what is fiction. We will look at the trawl footprint, what's happening with bycatch and bycatch avoidance.
"Then we want to bring all this information together from around the globe in one place. ICFA members will contribute to this and then they will have the information at their fingertips. As well as giving us the facts to share in our home countries when we are talking to the public or to governments, we can also learn from each other based on knowledge that is being developed in other places."
Crispian is imagining a future where our fishing practices are beyond criticism.
"There is plenty of potential here. I think of it as now, next, later. We need to find out what is actually happening now - what are the facts. Then we can think about what the future could look like. I want to imagine a future where we have improved our technology to the point where it is more efficient, saving us money and fuel, where it is less time-intensive and where we have lower carbon emissions. I guess it's a future for fishing where we have efficient techniques for harvest that save time compared to the baseline, save money compared to the current state and are even more environmentally friendly.
"This is a future where the public will see and understand that our technology is beyond reproach and we are not constantly trying to explain ourselves - where we can be proactive rather than reactive."
If you can help, by sharing information about what you do, please get involved. You can reach out via Tiff or Aaron at Seafood New Zealand, or even talk directly to Crispian. What we do in the next few months could make a huge difference for our whole sector, so thank you in advance for being part of this.
Please reach out and contact us if you are interested in participating in this work.
Learn more about the International Coalition of Fisheries Associations
Learn more abotu the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
