UPDATE: NMFS has suspended this experiment in response to public concern. Thanks for speaking up!
From SalmonState:
In an effort to “research” the effects of commercial bottom-trawling activity on the seafloor and animals that live there, the Alaska Fisheries Science Center proposes to drag trawl gear, or as they put it “conduct a commercial bottom-trawl research project” in the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area. Under this project named, Northern Bering Sea Effects of Trawling Study, or 'NETS' they will use research trawl gear to test whether bottom-dwelling species recover and, if they do, what changes there are one or more years after intentionally damaging their habitat.