![]() ![]() The magnitude depends on gear configuration, on the subtle modifications various operators make to their gear and on the many and varied habitats fished. Since the publication of the 1994 National Research Council report, there has been additional research on the effects of fishing gear, especially trawls and dredges, on marine benthic habitats. Expansion of fishing into new territory could lead to the loss of habitats that might have provided as refuge for heavily exploited species. Extensive new regions of the continental shelf, slope, submarine canyons, and seamounts have been exposed to the effects of bottom trawling and dredging. These efforts have been facilitated by the development of new gear and navigational aids. Also, because of declines in many traditional fisheries, efforts to find under-exploited fish populations have increased interest in exploiting less accessible, previously unfished areas. ![]() The long-term viability of some fish populations could be threatened if essential fish habitat is degraded. The use of mobile fishing gear has become a source of concern because of the size of the affected fishing grounds, the modification of the substrate, disturbance of benthic communities, and removal of nontarget species. “Habitat alteration by the fishing activities themselves is perhaps the least understood of the important environmental effects of fishing” (National Research Council, 1994). ![]()
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