Deep-sea
corals, found off all coasts of North America, are the ancient forests
of the oceans. These beautiful living colonies are extremely
slow-growing - less than an inch a year - and some may be thousands of
years old. The corals are spawning and nursery grounds for many
commercial fish and other marine life, and provide young fish with
shelter from predators.
The destructive bottom trawling gear used in many commercial fisheries
is the most widespread human threat to deep-sea corals. A simple
examination of common bottom trawling gear reveals its destructive
potential. Trawl nets, which may stretch 40 feet or more in height and
spread over 200 feet wide, are dragged between heavy trawl doors
weighing as much as five tons each, bulldozing across the sea floor.
Trawls capture virtually everything in their path, including targeted
and untargeted fish, marine mammals, turtles, sponges, and deep-sea
corals.
With the advent of ever more powerful engines, mapping, navigational
and fish finding electronics, and stronger, lighter synthetic
materials, bottom trawlers can now operate to depths of 6,000 feet.
Using coral-crushing roller and rockhopper gear on their nets, trawlers
can fish in deep-sea canyons and over rough seafloor, once avoided
because of the damage they caused to nets. Some 40 percent of the
world’s trawling grounds are now deeper than the edge of the
continental shelf and are on the slopes and in the canyons of the
continental margins and on seamounts, where most of the world’s known
deep-sea coral communities are found.
A recent study by the National Academy of Sciences found that over the
past decade, more than 231,000 square miles of seafloor off the US
coast - roughly the size of California - has been directly affected by
bottom trawling. The National Marine Fisheries Service estimates that
in Alaskan waters alone, more than a million pounds of corals and
sponges are removed from the seafloor every year by commercial fishing,
roughly 90 percent by bottom trawlers. That figure may grossly
underestimate the actual level of damage. Many of the corals and
sponges are crushed and not pulled to the surface and counted by
observers, and scientists are only beginning to document how widespread
deep-sea corals are.
Unfortunately, many of the deep-sea coral communities of the world have
already been destroyed by bottom trawling, some probably forever. But
many deep-sea coral communities remain, and new ones are still being
discovered. Several steps need to be taken to protect these
communities, which are invaluable to the ocean ecosystem.
First, we need to map all locations of coral communities. During this
process, the federal government should prohibit the expansion of
trawling and close currently trawled areas with known concentrations of
corals and sponges. Trawling gear should be modified or banned so that
trawling in coral areas is no longer mechanically possible. In
addition, the federal government should enhance enforcement and
establish severe penalties to prevent deliberate destruction of corals
and to prevent illegal fishing in already closed areas. Finally, the
government should fund research to restore damaged deep-sea coral
communities.
Deep-sea corals, so vital to marine ecosystems, are perhaps the most
vulnerable to bottom trawling of all forms of marine life. We’ve seen
what happened to our ancient forests. We can’t let that happen to our
coral forests, especially when we have the power to protect them for
the good of future generations.
Ted Danson is on the Board of Directors of Oceana, a non-profit
organization dedicated to restoring and protecting the world’s oceans
through policy advocacy, science, law and public education. Founded in
2001, Oceana includes members and activists from more than 150
countries and territories who are committed to saving the world’s
marine environment. For more information, please visit www.oceana.org.
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