February 10, 2015 — Off the Jersey Shore, where the continental shelf plummets into the deep sea, scientists have been exploring vast canyons, discovering far below the surface a trove of deep-sea corals as colorful and exciting as their warm-water cousins.
The fragile formations include more than 40 species of corals, some previously undiscovered. Some are massed in forests; others jut out from current-swept canyon walls. Given the growth rates of coral, some are thought to be thousands of years old.
The discoveries, made in recent summers all along the East Coast thanks in part to new technology, are prompting fisheries managers to consider restricting commercial fishing in portions of this dark, cold, and eerily beautiful undersea world.
On Wednesday, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council likely will vote on a proposal to limit the use of bottom-fishing gear that is dragged along the ocean floor, often scouring the area of sea life. Any new limits would have to be approved by federal officials.
Limits on fishing are often contentious, these even more so. They have drawn tens of thousands of comments – albeit most of them form letters prompted by environmental advocacy groups – from proponents who want the corals protected.
Read the full story and watch the video at the Philadelphia Inquirer