The impact of trawling on the benthic community - Analysis of the epifauna in the German Bight with imaging methods -

This study uses imaging methods to quantify the recovery of epifauna in an area recently closed to fishery. The construction of a research platform with a surrounding area closed to fisheries provided an opportunity to study the faunal development with a photo sled and video-system and to compare it with the situation in two reference areas. The abundance of epifaunal species and the habitat structure were investigated. 22 months after closure no significant differences on community level were found. However, scavenging and omnivorous species such as Liocarcinus spp. and Ophiuroidea were more abundant in the fished areas. Given the presence of significant results in a study conducted with beam trawl in the same area, imaging methods covering a smaller spatial scale seem less suited to document the recovery in this case. However, imaging methods allow excellent in-situ views on habitat structures such as trawl traces, behavior and small-scale species distribution.