If the EU wants to cut carbon emissions, protect wildlife, and prevent the potentially irreversible destruction of key habitats, there's one simple step to make massive progress on all these goals: ban bottom trawling in Marine Protected Areas.
In this incredibly destructive practice, trawlers drag weighted nets - that can be as large as a football field - across the seafloor, catching everything in their path and obliterating irreplaceable habitats.
This is catastrophic for wildlife: everything from turtles to starfish are scooped up, and deep-sea coral forests, which can take centuries to form, are completely erased, along with the unique array of wildlife they host.
Despite this trail of destruction, almost nothing has been done. Even the EU, which has led progressive efforts to improve sustainability in fisheries, still allows bottom trawling within protected areas.
It's time for action.
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