Deep Sea Corals: Out of Sight, But No Longer Out of Mind


They said it couldn’t be done… Congratulations and thank you to the thousands of you who helped make deep-sea coral research and protection the law of the land (and the sea).

Late Friday night, in Congress’ last hours before the holidays and a new majority, the House passed a bill reauthorizing and updating the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), the key legislation governing our nation’s fisheries.

One major success is the bill’s recognition of the importance of deep-sea coral and sponge habitat to healthy fisheries and oceans. The renewed MSA calls for increased research for deep-sea coral reefs and gives regional fishery management councils the authority to protect them from destructive fishing practices. That’s cause for real celebration!

We — and Congress -- couldn’t have done it without you, so give yourself a round of applause, a pat on the back, personal kudos… For a bit more about the bill see the “CEO’s Note” that Oceana’s president sent out yesterday and that we have attached below.


Dear Friends:
The world's oceans received good news and bad news early Saturday morning in Washington with the passage of a new Magnuson-Stevens Act - the act that governs America's fisheries.

First, the good news: the legislation significantly improves the protection of deep-sea corals and sponges from bottom trawling and other destructive fishing gear. Fisheries management councils now have the authority to close areas to protect deep sea corals without first proving that the areas are Essential Fish Habitat, a very difficult process. Also, scientist will now have a greater role in setting allowable catch limits in all US fisheries. Other improvements include the provisions to address overfishing and a new emphasis on international issues.

Now, the bad news: the bill weakens the role of the public in managing its marine resources by raising barriers to the public's access to data. It also strengthens policies to privatize our fisheries without mandating conservation standards to maintain healthy oceans.

Fundamentally, this bill as passed makes only incremental changes to the existing Magnuson-Stevens Act despite calls from two commissions and the scientific community that drastic changes are needed to truly protect and manage ocean ecosystems. Clearly, our work is not done, and Oceana will continue to push Congress to ensure that stronger legislation is introduced to protect US oceans and ocean resources.

Sincerely,
Andrew Sharpless
Chief Executive Officer

Oceana is successfully protecting deep sea corals.

North Pacific and Pacific: Oceana, working with fishermen, other groups and the fishery management councils, successfully protected more than 500,000 square miles of ocean habitat from destructive trawling off the North Pacific and the Pacific coasts. The protected areas are off the Aleutian Islands, in the Gulf of Alaska, the Bering Sea and off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and California. Destructive trawling and dredging is prohibited in areas where deep sea coral and sponge habitat are known to exist and areas where scientists have not yet studied. Bottom trawl areas are set in each region.

North and Mid-Atlantic: Working with fishermen, conservation organizations and the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, Oceana also protected deep sea corals and sponge habitat from monkfish bottom trawling and gill-netting in Oceanographer and Lydonia canyons. Also, by limiting the size of bottom trawling gear, deep sea coral habitat was protected in ten submarine canyon areas off the Mid-Atlantic coast.

Deep sea corals are essential for the living ocean.

Deep sea corals literally form the cradle of life for the oceans. These marine animals form the foundation of stunningly beautiful seafloor communities and are important habitats for fish to forage, find protection and lay their eggs. Some coral gardens contain more than one hundred species of corals and sponges and provide habitat for countless other animals.

Two-thirds of all known coral species live in dark, cold waters hundreds of meters down in the ocean. At these depths there is little or no sunlight for corals to derive energy from, so they support themselves by capturing small food particles from the surrounding water. Some individual corals grow together to form small bushes or fans; others form larger colonies such as reefs or great trees.

Deep sea corals and sponges grow extremely slowly -- sometimes hundreds of years -- and are particularly sensitive to disturbance. Some of these animals can live for centuries and congregate in spectacular reefs from the seabed, or great trees 25 feet wide; yet they advance at a rate of only a half inch a year.

Rockfish, Atka mackerel, walleye pollock, Pacific cod, sablefish, flatfish, crabs and other economically important fish in the North Pacific inhabit coral and sponge areas. The Oculina Banks in the Atlantic also support large numbers of fish, including groupers, bass, jacks, snappers, porgies and sharks. Scientific studies support fishermen's observations that the disappearance of corals causes significant changes in the distribution of fish and other ocean wildlife.Loss of corals and sponges, in turn, takes away habitat for a host of spe ies of sea creatures.

Besides providing the foundation for some of the most prolific ecosystems in the world, deep sea acoral communities may be important for pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Many corals are already bing tested to produce antibiotics, pain killers, and medicines to treat cancer, AIDS, asthma and heart disease.

Deep sea corals are located off every U.S. coast.

Scientists do know that deep sea corals grow off every coast, from Maine to Texas, Alaska to California, around the Gulf of Mexico and off the Hawaiian coasts. Most of the deep sea corals off the U.S. coasts have not been fully studied. Unfortunately, they remain largely unprotected as a result.

Learn more about one type of deep sea coral, Lophelia.