The sea has always been a mystery. It hides things. Secrets. Old stories. Entire worlds. Most of us don’t think about what’s under there, we see waves, boats, fish at the market, and maybe a few documentaries with soothing voices talking about coral reefs. But below the surface is something far more alive than we imagine. There are forests underwater. There are mountains. There are homes. And all of that is being torn apart by something most people have never even heard of: bottom trawling.

Bottom trawling is a way to catch fish, but it’s not gentle. It’s not smart. It’s not kind. It’s basically dragging a giant, heavy net across the sea floor and scooping up everything that’s there. Not just the fish that people want to eat, but everything. Coral, sponges, turtles, sharks, ancient sea creatures, and babies of fish that haven’t even had a chance to grow up. It doesn’t care what it catches. It just takes.

Imagine someone taking a tractor and running it across a meadow, pulling up the flowers, the rabbits, the birds’ nests, the trees, the ants, the soil—everything—just because they want the rabbits. That’s what bottom trawling does to the sea.

The nets are huge. Some are bigger than football fields. They're so big, planes could fit inside them. They're dragged by powerful boats—trawlers—that pull them through the sea, deep down where the light doesn’t reach. And what comes up in those nets isn’t just fish. It’s an entire world, torn apart.

The fish they’re after are usually the ones that live near the bottom—things like cod, haddock, flounder, shrimp. But along with those, the nets collect all the things around them. Sea creatures that have lived for centuries, deep-sea corals that took hundreds of years to grow, fragile animals no one even knew existed. Most of them don’t survive. They die in the net, crushed or suffocated, and are thrown back into the water like garbage.

This waste has a name: bycatch. Sometimes, the bycatch is more than half of what gets caught. That means that for every two fish people eat, one or more are caught and killed for no reason. The rest is dumped. Wasted. Lost.

And it’s not just about the animals. The ocean floor is full of carbon that’s been sitting peacefully for thousands of years. It’s trapped in the mud, in the plants, in the bones of ancient sea life. When trawlers drag their nets through it, that carbon gets stirred up and released. It moves into the water, then into the air. This adds to the warming of the planet. Scientists now say that bottom trawling releases about as much carbon as the entire global airline industry. That means fishing in this way is not just hurting the sea—it’s making climate change worse.

People who live near the sea know this. Small fishing communities, especially in places like India, Indonesia, West Africa, or South America, are seeing the effects. These communities have fished for generations, using small boats, lines, and nets that don’t destroy everything. They take what they need and let the sea heal itself. But now, big trawlers come into their waters and take everything. And then they leave.

The small fishers are left with nothing. Empty nets. Broken ecosystems. And no power to fight back. How can a small wooden boat compete with a giant metal ship backed by a big company? It can’t. And in many cases, the government gives money to these large companies to help them fish more. It’s called a subsidy. Instead of protecting the sea and the people who live with it, governments are often helping those who harm it.

This isn’t just a story of animals or the environment. It’s a story of injustice. It’s a story of greed.

You might wonder: Why don’t we stop this? Why don’t we ban bottom trawling?

In some places, we have tried. The European Union has stopped it in very deep waters. Some countries have created marine protected areas where trawlers can’t go. Scientists and activists have spoken out. Even the United Nations has warned about the dangers of bottom trawling.

But the truth is, the sea is huge. And the rules are weak. In many parts of the ocean, especially international waters, no one really controls what happens. Trawlers go where they want, do what they want, and no one is watching. And even in places where there are rules, they are often ignored.

One of the biggest problems is that people don’t know. We eat fish, but we don’t know how it was caught. We don’t see the damage. There are no pictures of dead turtles on our dinner plates. We buy “wild-caught” fish and feel good, not realizing that wild-caught often means bottom-trawled. That’s why awareness is so important. People need to understand that this isn’t just about fishing. It’s about protecting life. All of it.

There are better ways to fish. Some people use traps that only catch certain kinds of fish. Others use hook-and-line methods that don’t damage the sea floor. Some companies are working on smarter nets that let young fish and other creatures escape. Technology can help. So can stronger laws. But most of all, we need to care.

We need to care enough to ask where our fish comes from. We need to support local fishers who fish with respect. We need to pressure our governments to stop supporting destructive fishing. And we need to speak up for the sea, for the people who depend on it, and for the future.

Because the ocean is not endless. It’s not a magic cupboard that always refills itself. It’s a living system, and it is breaking. If we don’t change the way we treat it, we will lose not just fish, but entire ecosystems. We will lose beauty, mystery, and balance. We will lose something we can never get back.

Bottom trawling is not a mistake. It’s a choice. And it’s a choice we can stop making.

The sea has given us so much—food, oxygen, stories, wonder. Now, it’s asking for something back. It’s asking us to be better. To be gentle. To think before we destroy.

It’s asking us to listen.

Are we ready?

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