Source: Greenpeace
New fisheries data has reinforced the disastrous impact of commercial trawling, showing New Zealand trawlers reported hauling up more than 35,000kg of protected coral and sponges over a six and a half year period – despite the fishing industry claiming they avoid coral habitats.
Environmental groups are calling the figure “staggering”, and say it’s yet more evidence for why bottom trawling cannot continue on vulnerable habitats like seamounts, where corals thrive.
Greenpeace’s Ellie Hooper says: “The fishing industry is on a PR offensive, claiming they don’t trawl where corals grow. But this is misleading the public in terms of their impact on the ocean. No amount of PR spin can explain away over 35 tonnes of coral coming up in their nets.
“We cannot trawl our way to a healthy ocean, and the evidence has been clear for some time that change is urgently needed. Political parties must act to protect the most vulnerable habitats like seamounts from bottom trawling.”
The data, which is reported coral bycatch from the fishing industry and was released by MPI, shows that commercial trawlers caught 35,640 kg of coral and sponges within New Zealand waters between October 2019 and March 2026.
The Chatham Rise, off the South Island’s east coast, had the most damage, with 20,000kg seabed bycatch reported – nearly 60% of the total caught by trawlers in the time period. The Sub Antarctic region and South East fisheries areas followed. These areas are characterised by seamounts and other other vulnerable marine ecosystems, that are often home to coral and diverse ocean life.
Karli Thomas, of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition says: “Corals and sponges are vital to ocean health – creating crucial habitats in the deep sea and supporting rich and diverse ecosystems. Deep sea corals grow incredibly slowly and can live to be hundreds or even thousands of years old, but can be reduced to rubble in seconds by trawl nets.” (1.)
The 35,640kg of coral recorded as bycatch is likely just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the scale of destruction. Most coral that gets destroyed by trawling doesn’t make it into the net to be hauled aboard and weighed, most remains on the seabed. This means that with a bycatch of 35 tonnes, the amount actually destroyed could be between 3,849 – 12,118 tonnes. (2.)
Thomas also points to information that came to light during a 2022 government-run Forum looking at limiting bottom trawling.
Information presented at the Forum showed closing all seamounts in New Zealand waters would only reduce fishing value by 6%, assuming the fish weren’t caught elsewhere.
“The industry and their Minister claim environmental protections would put fishers out of business. The data shows that’s not true – and in reality the way they are fishing is destroying their fishery, and decimating other ocean life.”
Chair of ECO, Barry Weeber, agrees that the biggest risk to fishing industry jobs is the fishing industry itself, pointing to the recent collapse of the world’s largest orange roughy fishery on the Chatham Rise. Populations were so low, some seasonal area closures have been implemented to protect spawning grounds.
“Closing vital habitats only when fish populations are collapsing is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. If New Zealand doesn’t start managing fisheries better, which must include closing areas that are sensitive and known to be important to fish spawning, then we will see further collapses. Industry recklessness has an incredible impact with declining ocean health and industry employment.”
Ocean protection is high on the election year agenda, with a WWF poll from June showing 90% of New Zealanders want action on bottom trawling. Thousands also submitted against the Fisheries Amendment Bill that would have incentivised the method.
“The scale of trawling’s destruction is abundantly clear,” says Greenpeace’s Ellie Hooper. “A transition away from bottom trawling should have started decades ago, but nothing was done. It is simply not good enough for politicians, or industry, to tell New Zealanders in 2026 that they refuse to change.”
The country’s position on bottom trawling will be under the microscope at an international fisheries meeting this week, as countries met for the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation scientific committee.
New Zealand remains the only country bottom trawling the high seas, or international waters, of the South Pacific, and has previously blocked moves to protect vulnerable habitats in this area.
Notes
1. The oldest corals recorded in New Zealand waters are black corals over 2,000 years old. Reference: Tracey, D.M. & Hjorvarsdottir, F. (eds, comps) (2019) The State of Knowledge of Deep-Sea Corals in the New Zealand Region. NIWA Science and Technology Series No. 842.
2. R. Pitcher, A. Williams and L. Georgeson (2019) Progress with investigating uncertainty in the habitat suitability model predictions and VME indicator taxa thresholds underpinning CMM 03-2019. SPRFMO SC7-DW21_rev1, September 2019