The ocean currently stores around 3,100 gigatons of carbon in the top meter of sediment. Bottom trawling contributes little to the global food supply, but when it disturbs carbon-rich sediments it can contribute significantly to the greenhouse gas burden in the atmosphere. Protecting 283.38–383.65 million hectares of seafloor from bottom trawling could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3.80–5.14 gigatons between 2020 and 2050. Project Drawdown’s Seafloor Protection solution involves the legal protection of the seafloor, which contains sediments high in organic carbon, from disturbance by bottom-trawling fishing.