The phrase ‘deep sea fishing’ often refers to one of two activities. The first is sport fishing where individuals on vacation rent a charter boat and spend the day hunting big game such as marlin or sailfish. The second meaning for deep sea fishing refers to an industry of fishermen looking for large hauls of fish at the bottom of the ocean. The two activities are very different and have very different impacts on the environment.
Deep Sea Fishing as Sport
A quick internet search for ‘deep sea fishing’ turns up dozens of results for Florida fishing charters or deep sea fishing vacations in California. These fishing charters are focused mainly on tourists and individual fisherman looking for the thrill of catching big game fish. These offshore fish do live deep in the ocean and fishing for them generally requires special equipment.
Common big game fish include:
- sailfish which can live between 0 to 200 meters below the ocean
- marlin which are also often found between 0 to 200 meters below sea
- mahi mahi which can be found as deep as 85 meters below
- yellowfin tuna found at depths between 1 and 250 meters below the ocean
- wahoo which only ranges from 0 to 12 meters down but can grow to be 8 feet long
- and many others
Deep Sea Fisheries
Deep sea fishing can also have a more commercial meaning, referring to the hundreds of boats that trawl the bottom of the ocean floor for seafood. Bottom trawling involves ships with large nets that can drag fishing gear across the ocean floor as deep as two kilometers. The UN FAO reports that in 2006 roughly 250,000 tonnes of fish worth US$ 450 million, were caught from deep sea fishing.
The targets of such deep sea fishing include:
- orange roughy usually found between 400-900 meters, but which can live at 1800 meters below
- pelagic redfish found between 300-1400 meters and possibly deeper
- roundnose grenadier usually found between 400-1200 meters, but which can live at 2600 meters below
- and many others
Threats to Deep Sea Fishing
Unfortunately bottom trawl deep sea fishing has proven itself to be massively destructive. Trawling involves dragging heavy gear across the sea floor – often destroying deep sea coral reefs in the process. Coral gardens and the communities that inhabit them are often lost before they can be studied. This is a tragic loss in and of itself, but it can also mean the destruction of valuable resources. Sponges that may be the source of medical cures may be lost before they are ever discovered.
Further, since deep sea fisheries are little studied, they are inherently difficult to manage. This leads to the overfishing of species which can eventually lead to the collapse of a fishery. Orange roughy in particular has been in the spotlight as a vulnerable and overfished species. Learning more about deep sea fishing is vital to the continuation of this fascinating ecology.
Sources:
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. FishBase. May 2010. Sept 4 2010.
Rogers, Alex D and Matthew Gianni. “The Implementation of UNGA Resolutions 61/105 and 64/72 in the Management of Deep-Sea Fisheries on the High Seas”. May 2010.
Megan Jungwi - Megan Jungwi started her freelance writing career in March 2009. Although new to online writing Megan has long been passionate about the ...
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