Fragile depths

The deep seas are among the oceans’ least suitable areas for industrial fishing. In the dark waters below 400m, species typically live for many years, grow slowly, and have limited productivity.

They can sustain only very low levels of exploitation, and so can be quickly overfished. Their habitats, including vulnerable marine ecosystems such as sponges and millennia-old corals, can be easily damaged or permanently destroyed by fishing gear, such as bottom trawls that plough indiscrimin...