1986 Bering Sea Trawling Impact Project

A fishing gear research project was carried out to assess the impact of commercial bottom trawling by the U.S. fishing fleet on the demersal fauna and habitat of the eastern Bering Sea. Impact was assessed bv means of an underwater TV-equipped remotely operated vehicle maneuvered in and around trawl gear during fishing operations, observing and recording the physical performance of two types of gear typically used in this fishery, the reactions of varioue fish and invertebrate species to the gear, and the gear's impact on the bottom. The observations suggest that the impact of modern gear on benthic invertebrates and the substrate is less than that of older types of trawl gear, and that much of the trawl's rigging and ground gear makes little or no contact with the bottom at all.