Seagrass meadows play a key role in the fight against climate change. Even though seagrass only covers 0.2% of the seafloor, it silently absorbs 10% of the ocean’s carbon each year, 35 times faster than tropical rainforests. Seagrass meadows also protect coastlines from erosion, as they decrease waves’ strength by up to 75%. Moreover, seagrass meadows host a great diversity of marine life, contributing to keeping the ocean alive. 

Considering the urgent need for carbon neutrality to keep global warming below 2 degrees, natural solutions like protecting seagrass meadows should be considered a key climate priority. However, bottom trawling destroys these habitats, whose surface area has been significantly reduced in recent decades hindering the ocean’s precious climate mitigation ability. 

Bottom trawling is a threat to our climate. Banning bottom trawling would unlock the ocean’s full potential to mitigate climate change.

Posted on: 30 January 2023

• Climate and ocean
• Low impact fisheries
• Marine protected areas
• Ocean use
• Rewilding the ocean