Atwood, Trisha B., Sala, Enric, Mayorga, Juan, Bradley, Darcy, Cabral, Reniel B., Auber, Arnaud, Cheung, William, Ferretti, Francesco, Friedlander, Alan M., Gaines, Steven D., Garilao, Cristina, Goodell, Whitney, Halpern, Benjamin S., Hinson, Audra, Kaschner, Kristin, Kesner-Reyes, Kathleen, Leprieur, Fabien, McGowan, Jennifer, Morgan, Lance E., Mouillot, David, Palacios-Abrantes, Juliano, Possingham, Hugh P., Rechberger, Kristin D., Worm, Boris, and Lubchenco, Jane (2023) Reply to: Quantifying the carbon benefits of ending bottom trawling. Nature, 617 (7960). E3-E5.

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Abstract

[Extract] In the accompanying Comment, Hiddink et al.1 challenge our estimate2 of the magnitude of seabed carbon remineralized by bottom trawling. However, we think that the conclusions by Hiddink1 are based on incorrect assumptions and that these conclusions lack quantitative support for several of their claims.

We think that the assertion by Hiddink et al.1 that our calculations suggest that “OC in an area protected from trawling is unreactive and will not be mineralized” is incorrect. The model by Sala et al.2 rests on the idea that trawling exposes carbon buried in less-active sediment layers to shallower, more biogeochemically active ones. Because some of the affected sediment is eroded and transported away by ocean currents3, each trawling event exposes subsequent deeper layers of buried carbon. As a result, trawling aids in decomposing previously buried carbon by acting as a mechanism that can reoxygenate surface sediments, transport previously buried carbon to more biologically active zones and release carbon from physical occlusion.

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