Impacts of Fishing
Fishing uses a wide variety of techniques and gear types to
capture the target species. The effects of fishing on the marine
environment are as variable as the techniques and gear used.
Impacts can be divided into direct effects (e.g. physical
disturbance of the habitat) and indirect effects (e.g. changes in
the biological community). For the purposes of these web pages, the
detrimental impacts are broadly grouped into:
- bycatch including marine
mammals, turtles and seabirds
- seabed habitat damage and
- indirect effects on the biological community and, in
particular, the marine food web.