Scientists: Ocean depths being destroyed: ‘In recent years, sturdier winches, stronger cable and more powerful engines have allowed fishing trawlers to extend their reach to depths of 3,000 feet and beyond, biologist Callum Roberts said in Boston at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. At those depths, growth is so slow that harvested fish can take decades to be replaced and damaged coral may require centuries or more to grow back.

“The pace of life in the deep sea is virtually glacial,” said Roberts, a professor of environment at the University of York in Britain. “What we are destroying now will take centuries to recover.” ‘ Salon