2023 Roundup
Dear TBT Coalition supporter,
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Welcome to our 2023 roundup! This special bumper issue celebrates TBT Coalition members’ achievements from the past 12 months.
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The groups working to transform bottom trawling and restore our oceans understand the scale of the task at hand. In 2023, bottom trawlers have continued to plough seabeds up and down our coasts, sometimes to within a few meters of shore, destroying ecosystems on which millions of small-scale fishers depend. They have produced staggering volumes of waste - including juvenile fish and endangered species - and pumped more carbon into our atmosphere than any other fishing method. To most people, it is obvious that we must tackle bottom trawling - and fast - for the sake of small-scale fishers, marine life and the climate.
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But this year, which has been plagued by soaring costs of living, climate catastrophes, and a rising sense of political and environmental unpredictability, has reiterated the critical importance of human rights and equity in the movement against bottom trawling. The practice is embedded in our global fisheries system; fleets land a quarter of the world’s fish and employ upwards of a million fishers. Far more are engaged in supply chains and parallel industries connected to trawling. So while a rapid transition away from bottom trawling is necessary, the process has to be fair and account for complex challenges and local nuances. Coastal communities that bear the brunt of bottom trawling’s impacts understand these nuances better than anyone, and they must be at the forefront of the transition.
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This year we have seen community organizations, fishers, conservation groups and the public take a stand against bottom trawling in tens of countries across four continents. From Indonesia to Scotland and from Brazil to Cameroon, the global movement to transform bottom trawling is growing. The coalition - which now includes 77 members in 41 countries - has been working to support these organizations, connect them with like-minded groups to forge strong collaborations, and amplify their voices to a global audience. In this special 2023 newsletter roundup, we reflect on some of these inspiring organizations’ efforts and celebrate their progress.
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As we close out the year and revisit the inspiring progress the coalition’s members have achieved, we are more committed than ever to tackling bottom trawling, revitalizing small-scale fisheries, protecting marine life, and restoring our oceans. Join us on this mission in 2024!
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The Transform Bottom Trawling Coalition
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This special issue celebrates members’ achievements from across the globe. Background image © Howard Wood | COAST
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Global roundup
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EXPERTS REFLECT ON BOTTOM TRAWLING EXCLUSION ZONES
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We hosted two webinars this year to explore the role of coastal bottom trawling exclusion zones - also known as “IEZs” - in protecting coastal ecosystems and small-scale fisheries.
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The webinars, which brought together experts from the fisheries and conservation sectors, related to our mission to establish, expand, and strengthen IEZs in which bottom trawling is prohibited and to which small-scale fishers have preferential access.
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The first webinar focused on campaigns led by Rare Honduras and Oceana Brazil in partnership with fishing organizations to establish large-scale IEZs. John Virdin, Director of the Duke University Ocean Policy Program, presented a new analysis of the global extent of IEZs.
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The second webinar focused on West Africa, where IEZs are widespread but plagued by enforcement challenges. The Canoe and Fishing Gear Owner's Association of Ghana, the African Marine Mammal Conservation Organisation, and the Environmental Justice Foundation shared their experiences working with communities on fisher-led vessel monitoring and reporting in Cameroon, Ghana, and Senegal. OceanMind presented remote monitoring tools that can be used by governments to track industrial vessels’ fishing activity and pick up illegal incursions into artisanal fishing zones.
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FISHERS' PERSPECTIVES ON BOTTOM TRAWLING
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Small-scale fishers are the largest group of ocean users and often the best positioned to propose practical solutions to ocean challenges that allow low-impact fishers and healthy ecosystems to coexist.
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In July, the coalition launched an interactive online map to platform the voices of fishers and fishworkers whose livelihoods are affected by bottom trawling. As well as highlighting how bottom trawling affects other fishers, the map presents solutions that work for them, allowing users to take action after listening to fishers’ perspectives.
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We are working with fishers to gather new testimonies for the map, highlighting how bottom trawling affects fishers in different parts of the world. Explore the map to hear the testimonies and reach out to the coalition if you would like to help it grow.
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Listen to fishers' perspectives on bottom trawling by exploring the Fisher Testimonies map.
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MSC ON THE HOOK FOR CERTIFYING BOTTOM TRAWL FISHERIES
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The Marine Stewardship Council (MS) has come under further scrutiny this year for continuing to certify bottom trawl and dredge fisheries as ‘sustainable’ and failing to account for carbon emissions in its environmental impact assessments.
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A report published by the On The Hook campaign presented sector-wide concerns about the MSC’s performance and standards. It found that the MSC has lost credibility as an indicator of sustainable fishing through its certification of large-scale industrial fisheries and those participating in harmful practices, such as bottom trawling and dredging, and its failure to account for the carbon cost of fisheries in its program. It concluded that the MSC is failing to keep up with the pace of change required to deliver sustainable seafood and issues urgent calls for reform.
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The report has recently been compounded by an Open Seas investigation into widespread issues with MSC’s efforts to certify Scottish inshore bottom trawl fisheries for langoustine (scampi).
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This image shows the impact that scallop dredging can have in the immediate aftermath of fishing. The left of the image shows an undredged area. The right of the image shows the same area two days after dredging took place. © Howard Wood | COAST
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Africa
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SENEGALESE FISHERIES ARE AT A TIPPING POINT
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In October, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), with support and funding from the TBT Coalition, published an investigative report into the environmental and socio-economic impacts of bottom trawling in Senegal.
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The report found that bottom trawling is destroying the marine environment and dispossessing 169,000 people of their livelihoods. The country’s bottom trawl fleet increased by 12.5% between 2014 and 2018. As the sector grows, it puts immense pressure on marine ecosystems and the fisheries they support, causing resources to dwindle and poverty to rise as a result. The report includes eight recommendations for Senegalese authorities and civil society to prevent and reduce bottom trawling impacts. It is critically important that these recommendations are heeded, as failure to do so could jeopardize the livelihoods of food security of thousands of people in coastal communities.
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THE KISS OF DEATH: BOTTOM TRAWLING IN TUNISIA
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EJF also turned the spotlight on illegal bottom trawling in Tunisia, which is eroding centuries-old fishing traditions and uprooting seagrass ecosystems that absorb carbon and host a vast diversity of marine species.
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In the Gulf of Gabès, which is host to one of the largest remaining expanses of the seagrass species Posidonia oceanica, kiss trawling - a form of shallow water otter trawling - has emerged as a major threat to local livelihoods and marine biodiversity. Hundreds of kiss trawlers have been observed in ports in the area, with numbers increasing by over a third between 2018 and 2022.
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FIVE RECOMMENDATIONS TO TACKLE ILLEGAL FISHING IN GHANA
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In Ghana, the Canoe and Fishing Gear Owner’s Association (CaFGOAG) has been fighting against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. In June, CaFGOAG published five recommendations to the Government to support small-scale fishers’ livelihoods, with a focus on facilitating fishers’ access to scientific information to inform sustainable fishing practices, while taking decisive action against IUU fishing, overfishing, and destructive fishing practices like bottom trawling.
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IUU fishing and bottom trawling pose an existential threat to Ghana's coastal communities. © Blue Ventures
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BUILDING MOMENTUM AGAINST BOTTOM TRAWLING IN CAMEROON
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At the AMMCO-organized Street Whale event in June, which was supported by the TBT Coalition, crowds descended on Kribi to join three packed days of events celebrating Cameroon’s rich marine ecosystems and highlighting the threats it faces. In August, the AMMCO team travelled to Accra, Ghana, to participate in the West African Marine Science Symposium (WAMSS), where they shared their efforts to monitor marine megafauna and fight Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
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An AMMCO team travelled to Accra in August for WAMSS 2023.
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Americas
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INSHORE TRAWL BAN UPHELD IN BRAZIL
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In June, Brazil’s Supreme Court upheld a law in the state of Rio Grande do Sul that bans industrial bottom trawling.
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Before the 2018 ban, bottom trawling was depleting fish stocks, threatening marine biodiversity, and destroying habitats, all of which the local community relies on to support their livelihoods.
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Oceana, which joined the coalition in 2021, campaigned alongside artisanal fishers to pass this law in 2018, which safeguards the entire state’s 630-kilometre-long coast and the first 20 kilometres offshore (more than 13,000 square kilometres). Since then, local communities have seen many fish stocks recover. The Supreme Court’s decision reinforces the importance of this law to ensure sustainable livelihoods for more than 20,000 families who rely on artisanal fishing in Rio Grande do Sul.
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You can learn more about the campaign in Rio Grande do Sul by watching the coalition’s learning webinar.
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© Greenpeace / Alex Hofford
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INDONESIAN SMALL-SCALE FISHERS RALLY FOR REFORM
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In August, hundreds of small-scale fishers held a peaceful demonstration in North Sumatra to demand action against destructive fishing practices.
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In collaboration with the Indonesian Traditional Fishers' Union (KNTI), fishers called on the government to protect inshore fishing grounds from destructive bottom trawling and seining - locally known as cantrang - due to their impacts on traditional Tanjungbalai Asahan fishers. The methods have led to a decrease in catches for fishers and more competition over fishing grounds.
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With the support of the TBT Coalition, KNTI recently released a series of documentaries exploring the ways that bottom trawling affects traditional fishers, and their teams are currently working with fishers across the country to secure their rights and tackle industrial destructive fisheries.
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Indonesian fishers gathered in Sumatra to protest against bottom trawling. © KNTI
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Asia-Pacific
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UNDERSTANDING REDUCTION FISHERIES IN INDIA
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In India, where over 10,000 bottom trawlers are ploughing up and down coastal waters, Dakshin Foundation has been working to tackle the worrying trend of “reduction fishing”. The practice involves indiscriminately catching as much marine life as possible and pulping it into fish meal and fish oil for use in livestock and aquaculture feed.
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In a report produced with WWF India, Dakshin revealed that 64-89% of marine life being used to produce fishmeal and oil from ‘reduction' fisheries is also commonly consumed by local communities. Diverting seafood from communities to make animal feed can have grave implications for a developing country like India where 16% (224.3 million) of the population is undernourished. The study also highlighted the impacts of trawling on the livelihoods of small-scale fishers, many of whom claimed a significant drop in their daily catch since the beginning of trawling.
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Dakshin Foundation is now gathering more evidence on the impacts of reduction fisheries to inform inclusive policy actions and make Indian fisheries more sustainable.
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The fish unloaded from these bottom trawl vessels will be pulped into fishmeal and fish oil for animal consumption, diverting fish away from local communities.
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EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS TO END END ILLEGAL TRAWLING IN CAMBODIA
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In Cambodia, conservation groups have been forced to take direct action to curtail rampant illegal trawling.
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The CATS consists of a concrete structure, which if caught by a trawler, will entangle the net. Its structure creates an artificial habitat for marine flora and fauna and can become a nursery for fish. The deployment of the structures has led to a decrease in trawling efforts and has been linked to the return of endangered marine species, such as green turtles and dugong.
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Recognizing the challenge faced by illegal trawling, the Cambodian government recently signed a contract with the Asian Development Bank and MCC to deploy 5000 anti-trawling habitat structures throughout the country’s inshore waters.
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DOCUMENTING TRAWL IMPACTS IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND
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Bottom trawlers in Aotearoa New Zealand can be broadly classified into very large factory vessels that target fish living on sensitive seamounts offshore, and smaller vessels that fish inshore. Coalition members have been working to document the impacts of these different sub-sectors and propose practical solutions.
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In the Hauraki Gulf, a heavily fished and dredged area of Aotearoa New Zealand’s North Island, local conservation groups are calling for a ban on bottom trawling in the area as it has been designated as a national Marine Park due to its cultural and ecological significance.
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A draft Hauraki Gulf fisheries plan published by the government before the recent election committed to restricting bottom trawling but stopped short of prohibiting it completely. Public submissions closed on the plan just weeks before fish in the Hauraki Gulf were found to be suffering from severe malnutrition.
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Meanwhile, Film the Trawlers has been developing a documentary on industrial fishing, primarily focused on bottom trawling told through the eyes of ex-trawler workers. Their team is currently preparing for the winter bottom trawling season, hoping to capture more footage of trawlers at sea.
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A 350-year-old piece of Paragorgia coral caught by bottom trawlers fishing in New Zealand waters. A recent report found that over 6000kg of protected corals and sponges were uprooted by trawlers in just 12 months © Greenpeace
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Europe
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PAN-EUROPEAN CALL TO END BOTTOM TRAWLING
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On World Ocean Day in June, Patagonia launched a global environmental campaign, focused on ocean protection and restoration.
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Through a series of films, a petition, and events across Europe, Patagonia mobilized individuals to call on governments to end bottom trawling, starting with an immediate ban in European marine protected areas and inshore zones. The petition has reached almost 150,000 signatures and is still growing.
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MARINE ACTION PLAN LACKS AMBITION
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In the EU, coalition members have mobilized to strengthen the EU Commission’s Marine Action Plan, released in February, which defines the Commission’s ocean ambition for marine protection, decarbonization of the fishing industry and sustainable fisheries management.
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The Action Plan is the first time an official European Commission’s communication acknowledges the problem of destructive fishing gears – like bottom trawling – and the scale of the impacts it has on fragile habitats and marine life, and how it exacerbates climate change by releasing carbon stored in sediments. But it only proposes half measures to tackle destructive fisheries, with long timelines and uncertainty about their enforcement. It proposes to prohibit bottom trawling in EU MPAs by 2030 at the latest, which is far too late if we are to deliver effective protection of MPAs.
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Bottom trawlers continue to devastate MPAs across Europe, with a recent Oceana investigation showing that three out of four Spanish trawlers fished in marine protected areas in 2022, and MPAs were exposed to an estimated minimum of 178,223 hours of bottom trawling.
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The EU must increase its ambition to transition away from bottom trawling if it hopes to meet its decarbonisation and biodiversity protection goals.
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MOMENTUM CONTINUES TO BUILD IN SCOTLAND
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Coalition members in Scotland are rounding off a very busy year fighting to restore small-scale fisheries and revive coastal communities by tackling bottom trawling and dredging.
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The problems with bottom trawling and dredging in Scotland were captured in two powerful documentaries this year. ‘The Wake’ follows two prawn fishermen as they fight for the survival of their livelihoods against a backdrop of environmental decline and ‘The Custodians’ follows community groups’ grassroots efforts to replenish dwindling seabed habitats. The BBC’s landmark UK nature series, Wild Isles with David Attenborough, also highlighted the damage that scallop dredging inflicts on seabed ecosystems.
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Scottish coalition member Open Seas scored a campaign win in June when, following a successful legal challenge, the Scottish Government’s approach to licensing of scallop dredging and bottom-trawling was ruled “unlawful”. The court’s decision was a win for environmental justice, but now Scottish Ministers must act to stop the damage and protect marine environments.
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The group then launched the #SayNoToScampi campaign, which calls on supermarkets to stop stocking scampi until the serious environmental problems in its supply chains are resolved. Scampi is made from the tails of langoustines, also called Nephrops prawns, which are caught with bottom trawls close to shore. It is a highly destructive fishery that pulverises sensitive seabed ecosystems and leads to high volumes of waste. The evidence shows that at least 1kg of marine wildlife is caught, killed and discarded for every 1kg of langoustine caught for scampi. Open Seas campaign is raising awareness of the true impacts of scampi and highlighting extensive issues with efforts to certify the fishery as ‘sustainable’ by the MSC.
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Meanwhile, the Our Seas coalition has ramped up its efforts to coordinate a national movement to #BringBacktheFish by securing an #InshoreLimit by coordinating public responses to government consultations on fisheries and biodiversity, launching a national advertising campaign, penning an open letter on marine protected areas and much more. You can support Our Seas by signing their petition.
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Watch this video to learn more about the environmental impacts of the scampi in your supermarket © Open Seas
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Bottom Trawling News
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Bottom trawling has landed in the media spotlight over 50 times in the past 12 months, with articles in national and international publications covering its impacts on marine ecosystems and coastal communities across the globe. You can find all of these articles in our previous newsletters.
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We expect to see more coverage in 2024 as it becomes increasingly clear that rampant bottom trawling is incompatible with efforts to improve human welfare, protect biodiversity and tackle climate breakdown.
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A spate of orca catches in Alaska's bottom trawl fishery made the news this year and led the Center for Biological Diversity to file a lawsuit against NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service.
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WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
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Send us bottom trawling news or events that you’d like us to amplify via social media or this newsletter!
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Want to keep up to date on our journey to transform bottom trawling? Sign up for the TBT Coalition newsletter to hear from the global coalition working to tackle bottom trawling and restore our oceans. https://transformbottomtrawling.org
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