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Bottom trawling destroys far more ocean habitat than any other fishing practice on the West Coast. Trawlers drag large weighted nets across the ocean floor, clear-cutting a swath of habitat in their wake. These scars will take centuries to heal. A bottom trawl consists of a large tapered net with a wide mouth and a small enclosed end. The mouth of a trawl net has two weighted doors that serve not only to keep the net open, but also to keep the net on the ocean floor. These doors can weigh several tons. In addition to the heavy doors, the bottom of the net is a thick metal cable studded with heavy steel balls or rubber bobbins that effectively crush everything in their path. As the net drags along the seafloor, living habitat in its path is crushed, ripped up, or smothered as the seabed is turned over. http://www.savecorals.com/trawling.html