Bottom Trawling and the Damage to Underwater Cultural Heritage: An Overview of the Destruction and Possible Steps Forward
Dublin Core
Title
Bottom Trawling and the Damage to Underwater Cultural Heritage: An Overview of the Destruction and Possible Steps Forward
Description
Trawling has long been regarded as a damaging practice and marine ecologists have lobbied for restrictions. The
damage to Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH), however, has received less attention, though it is just as
consequential. This paper looks at UCH damage case studies and the impacts of heritage loss and then suggests
steps forward. The case studies in the paper will include the damage to UCH across the ocean and in the
Mediterranean and Black seas. Shipwrecks are as much part of the marine landscape, and thus of importance to
ecologists, as they are to the cultural, historical landscape. Yet nothing has been done to seriously limit trawling
and protect the underwater cultural landscape and archaeological impacts and data are missing from biological
reports on the process. No underwater policies based on cultural preservation have been formulated to manage
offshore fishing. There is a preferred policy for in situ preservation in the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the
Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage and some practical measures for site managers to address the
threats from bottom trawling but if in situ preservation is to be supported, more needs to be done. Moorings can
be added and shipwrecks, if left in place, can become artificial reefs and places for more artisanal, sustainable
hook-and-line fishing. However, what is needed most is for states and international fishing organisations to ban
bottom trawling at and around identified UCH sites, as has been done for some seamounts.
This work is part of the Threats to Our Ocean Heritage project, a UN Decade for Ocean Science approved
Action discussing this issue of Trawling, Deep Seabed Mining, and Potentially Polluting Wrecks. The expected
results include ocean literacy that increases awareness of the issue to a wider range of stakeholders including
international organizations, states, and institutions with the authority to effectuate change.
damage to Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH), however, has received less attention, though it is just as
consequential. This paper looks at UCH damage case studies and the impacts of heritage loss and then suggests
steps forward. The case studies in the paper will include the damage to UCH across the ocean and in the
Mediterranean and Black seas. Shipwrecks are as much part of the marine landscape, and thus of importance to
ecologists, as they are to the cultural, historical landscape. Yet nothing has been done to seriously limit trawling
and protect the underwater cultural landscape and archaeological impacts and data are missing from biological
reports on the process. No underwater policies based on cultural preservation have been formulated to manage
offshore fishing. There is a preferred policy for in situ preservation in the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the
Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage and some practical measures for site managers to address the
threats from bottom trawling but if in situ preservation is to be supported, more needs to be done. Moorings can
be added and shipwrecks, if left in place, can become artificial reefs and places for more artisanal, sustainable
hook-and-line fishing. However, what is needed most is for states and international fishing organisations to ban
bottom trawling at and around identified UCH sites, as has been done for some seamounts.
This work is part of the Threats to Our Ocean Heritage project, a UN Decade for Ocean Science approved
Action discussing this issue of Trawling, Deep Seabed Mining, and Potentially Polluting Wrecks. The expected
results include ocean literacy that increases awareness of the issue to a wider range of stakeholders including
international organizations, states, and institutions with the authority to effectuate change.
Creator
Charlotte Jarvis
Publisher
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology
Date
2023
Language
English
Bibliographic Citation
Jarvis, Charlotte . 2023. “Bottom Trawling and the Damage to Underwater Cultural Heritage: An Overview of the Destruction and Possible Steps Forward.” Edited by Jennifer Craig, Jay Mok, T. Kurt Knoerl, and Ole Varmer. In Proceedings of Fifth Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage: Gwangju, The Republic of Korea, November 13-18 2023. The Museum of Underwater Archaeology. URL: https://apconf.omeka.net/exhibits/show/apconfproceedings/item/1904
Files
Citation
Charlotte Jarvis, “Bottom Trawling and the Damage to Underwater Cultural Heritage: An Overview of the Destruction and Possible Steps Forward,” APCONF-MUCH Proceedings Recently Added Items, accessed October 24, 2026, https://apconf-much.org/proceedings/items/show/535.