Bottom trawling and the future of global fish supplies

底拖网捕捞与全球鱼类资源的未来

The Food Chain

2025-08-28

26 分钟
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单集简介 ...

Bottom trawling is one of the most widely used - and most destructive - fishing practices in the world. Dragging heavy nets across the seabed damages fragile ecosystems, depletes global fish supplies, and puts the livelihoods of small-scale fishers at risk. In this episode of The Food Chain, Rumella Dasgupta speaks to John Worthington, one of the last remaining fishermen in Fleetwood, UK, who fears a proposed ban on bottom trawling in Marine Protected Areas could end his business. Fisheries economist Dr Rashid Sumaila of the University of British Columbia explains the global consequences of trawling, from overfishing to illegal and unregulated catches. On the coast of West Africa, Aissata Daouda Dia, Head of Advocacy at Blue Ventures, tells us hom much coastal communities rely on local catch. Nana Kweigyah from the Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana, describes how foreign industrial trawlers are devastating coastal communities. And in Singapore, Adrian Poon of the Cinnamon Group explores the challenges of sourcing fish sustainably in a market dominated by cheaper, trawled seafood. Producer: Izzy Greenfield Image: Getty
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单集文稿 ...

  • See this boat here?

  • That was one of the local fishing boats, it used fish wheels.

  • Couldn't afford to do it,

  • he had to sell the licence and he just tied the boat up and that's how it's ended up over the years.

  • It's 7am on a warm August morning in the quiet coastal town of Fleetwood in the north-west of England.

  • This used to be one of the biggest ports here, Hull and Grinsby.

  • They're just all dying now, nothing.

  • John Worthington has been fishing here for 40 years.

  • It's everything he's ever known.

  • I've been fishing since about 15 years of age.

  • My grandfather and my dad did the salmon fishing and shrimping at Glasendock.

  • So it's been a family.

  • And I used to go shrimping when I was like eight years of age with my dad.

  • This used to be one of Britain's busiest fishing ports.

  • But over the decades, the industry here has declined.

  • Once upon a time, there would have been 90 fishing vessels in this harbour.

  • Now only two registered boats are left.

  • John's and his friend Greg's.

  • We don't want the smoke here,

  • so we use nets that's under a millimetre so all the small fish can get through.