Publicación científica | junio, 2026
Impacts of bottom trawl fishing in the Juan Fernández ridge, Chile
Bottom trawl fishing (BTF) is one of the most destructive fishing practices, generating long-term impacts on benthic habitats and removing habitat-structuring species, such as millenary deep-sea corals, that are essential for demersal assemblages. Using the ROV SuBastian aboard the R/V Falkor (too), we assessed the effects of BTF on deep benthic communities of the Juan Fernández Archipelago (JFA) seamounts, Chile, more than 25 years after a BTF moratorium. We also surveyed “Solito,” a seamount in the Desventuradas ecoregion that, to our knowledge, has never been trawled. ROV video data were compared with historical trawling locations from the early 2000s. Evidence of past trawling was found across all JFA seamounts, whereas none was detected at Solito. Non-trawled areas displayed significantly higher cover of live habitat-forming corals and greater abundances of cnidarians and arthropods, while trawled areas were dominated by soft sediments and high densities of the urchin Dermechinus horridus. We hypothesize that substrates disturbed by BTF favor the proliferation of D. horridus. Habitat complexity was also significantly higher in non-trawled areas, indicating that BTF causes long-lasting simplification of benthic structure. Our results demonstrate persistent ecological degradation in the JFA more than 25 years after the moratorium, including reduced habitat complexity and altered species composition. While the JFA seamounts currently fall within Marine Protected Areas, Solito remains unprotected. We recommend establishing long-term biophysical monitoring to evaluate habitat recovery and species succession, as well as implementing spatial management measures for Solito to safeguard this pristine and diverse seamount from present and future anthropogenic impacts.
| Petit, I., Tapia-Guerra J.M., Gaymer C.F., Castro-Contreras M., Payá I., Sellanes J., Easton E.E., Gallardo M-A, Watling L. Impacts of bottom trawl fishing in the Juan Fernández ridge, Chile. |
