February 1, 2018 — The New England Fishery Management Council has approved a deep-sea coral protection amendment that will close a wide swath of the continental slope and canyons south of Georges Bank to almost all bottom-tending fishing gear in waters deeper than 600 meters.
The omnibus deep-sea coral amendment, approved by the council Tuesday, will protect 25,153 square miles of deep sea corals and was hailed by conservationists and environmentalists despite the fact that their alternative proposal would have protected even more area off the coast of New England.
“Today’s action is a strong step toward coral conservation, however it was unfortunate that the council did not select the stronger option that was available to them,” Gib Brogan, Oceana’s fisheries campaign manager, said in a statement. “The council missed the opportunity to approve a plan that would have truly stopped the expansion of current fishing and would have protected more corals.”
The deep-sea coral amendment, which requires NOAA Fisheries review and approval, covers 75 percent of the known corals within the designated area, 75 percent of the area’s most suitable habitat for soft corals and 85 percent of the area’s canyon slopes pitched at greater than 30 degrees.
It protects four seamounts and 20 deep-sea canyons.
If approved by NOAA Fisheries, the designated protection areas will be closed to all bottom-tending gear, including mobile gear such as trawls and dredges and all fixed gear such as traps and gillnets.
The lone exception, approved by the council, allows the Atlantic deep-sea red crab pot fishery to continue harvesting in the area.
Fishermen, however, will be able to continue fishing with bottom-tending gear from the Massachusetts coast to the designated protected areas, unless they are in areas already restricted by regulations apart from the coral amendment.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Times