Unfortunately this study did not look at the impact of trawling on seagrass meadows which is a question that still remains unanswered. Marine Benthos Impacts Urgent management action is required for the marine benthos community. Trawling physically removes the benthos and the effects of this type of destruction are unknown. Many questions arise on the role of this community and the significance it has to fisheries and the entire marine ecosystem. Marine benthos compromises animals such as alcyonarians, crinoids, marine algae, sponges, seagrass, gorgonians and bryozoans which can occur on soft and hard sediments.
Marine benthos supports a great diversity of organisms some of which are commercially important.
This community is very difficult to conserve and protect as thousands of species are not yet named or described, and historical data needed to determine the effect of trawling, to estimate natural and anthropogenic change, is lacking. They are the loggerhead, green, flatback, hawksbill, olive ridley and the leatherback turtle. Five of these are listed under the Commonwealth Endangered Species Protection Act and all six are listed under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act. Of most concern is the endangered loggerhead turtle. Trawl fisheries with the highest recorded CPUE of turtles are the tiger, banana and endeavour prawn fisheries.