TrawledSeas (Bottom Trawling as a Driver of Seascape Transformation) is a 2-year research project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 867471.
It started in December 2020 and is led by Dr Ruth Durán at the Marine Geology & Seafloor Surveying group, Department of Geosciences.
The main objective of TrawledSeas is to quantitatively characterise the contribution of bottom trawling on the geomorphic evolution of deep (>200 m) sea regions over a range of spatial scales, from fine (m–dam) to mesoscale (5–100 km).
It will be carried out in eight study areas within major fishing grounds in Europe and beyond in collaboration with an international and multidisciplinary team of scientists from different institutions, such as the University of Malta, the Geological Survey of Norway, the Institute of Marine Sciences (CSIC) and Tragsa for General Secretariat of Fisheries in Spain, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand and the Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), University of Victoria, in Canada.
Dr Ruth Durán is a marine geologist investigating the geomorphology, sediment dynamics and recent evolution of continental margins and coastal environments towards a more effective use of marine resources and coastal management.
More specifically, she focuses her research on the short-term (years to decades) morphological evolution of coastal systems, the geomorphological processes and bottom sediment dynamics on continental shelves, with special emphasis on the formation, evolution and present day activity of bedforms and on the recent evolution (Quaternary) of continental margin. Currently, the focus of her research has been also addressed to understand the role of deep-sea bottom trawling activities on the seafloor morphology.