Bottom trawling on continental shelves can lead to extensive sediment resuspension, potentially altering carbon cycling and benthic-pelagic nutrient exchange. We assessed how bottom trawling affects the oxygen exposure time of organic matter (OM) and its transport toward deeper, oxygen-deficient basins in the Baltic Sea. For this, we used a 3-D coupled physical-biogeochemical model with labile and unreactive OM and associated water-column and sedimentary time tracers. Fishing activity was quantified from publicly available datasets and uncertainty in trawling-induced resuspension was addressed using low and high trawling estimates.</p> <p>Bottom trawling altered the spatial distribution of OM. Labile OM was transported over shorter distances due to its limited lifetime, with bottom trawling increasing its water-column residence time (WCRT) by 3 and 17 % (14 and 76 h) in areas classified as having low and high trawling intensity, respectively. Repeated trawling-induced resuspension had a larger cumulative effect on unreactive OM, increasing its WCRT by 25 and 46 % (16 and 42 d), respectively, over 15 years and substantially affecting its distribution. Bottom trawling had only a minor effect on oxygen deficiency, with maximum increases in hypoxic and euxinic bottom areas of &lt;7.0 &times; 10³ and &lt;3.8 &times; 10³ km², respectively. Notably, bottom trawling progressively enhanced primary production over 20 years of simulation, reaching increases of up to 12 and 29 % under the low and high trawling estimates, respectively, through increased resuspension and recycling of phosphorus. This benthic-pelagic feedback increases sedimentary OM concentrations and may counteract the commonly proposed effect of enhanced OM mineralization, particularly in systems where primary production strongly depends on phosphate availability.