August 10, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
To learn more about deep-sea communities in the sub-Arctic waters of Alaska, NOAA Fisheries is implementing a four-year science initiative. Research teams will collect new information that will contribute to the management and protection of deep-sea coral and sponge ecosystems throughout Alaska.
Corals and sponges are found throughout Alaska’s rich marine waters—the Aleutian Islands have some of the densest and most diverse coral and sponge communities in the world. However, their full geographic extent is still unknown.
This is due in part to the vastness of Alaska’s exclusive economic zone. These offshore waters encompass an area greater than the combined EEZ of all the other U.S. continental states. As a result, approximately 72 percent of Alaska’s waters have yet to be thoroughly mapped with sonar.
“It’s really important that we conduct this research now. So much of the sub-Arctic and Arctic is changing due to climate change and we know so little about these seafloor communities and valuable fish and crab habitats,” said Jerry Hoff, the lead scientist for this effort, who is based at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center.