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Trawling may be an effective technique, but may also be destructive, since it sweeps up both desirable and undesirable fish ( by-catch). Bottom trawling is a trawling technique where the net is dragged along the seafloor. Some argue that these fisheries destroys the habitats of many important organisms living on the bottom. Bottom trawling require however flat and sandy or muddy sea floor, which excludes large areas. Pelagic trawl ing is by many considered being much more destructive, fishing large number of juveniles.
Although trawling today is heavily regulated, it remains the target of many protests by environmentalists.
'Trawling' has come to be used in a number of non-fishing contexts, generally referred to indiscriminate collection with the intent of picking out the interesting bits. For instance, in law enforcement it may refer to the practice of collecting large records of phone calls in the hopes of finding calls made by suspects.
Fisheries science Fishing