The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council has approved a plan to save long stretch of deep sea coral from North Carolina to Florida from destructive fishing gear. Oceana has applauds this action to help ensure long-term productivity of commercial fisheries. This plan will restrict the footprint of bottom trawls – one of the most non selective fishing gears currently in use, capable of destroying thousand-year-old coral reefs.
It is said that the plan also help moving 18-ton rocks and to restore the long-term productivity of commercially valuable fish that take refuge in these rare corals. Dave Allison, senior campaign director at Oceana, said that this landmark decision is a win for the oceans and those in the southeast who rely on it for their livelihoods.
Margot Stiles, marine scientist at Oceana, told that the history of fishing has too frequently been blind to expansion into deep waters as nearshore areas become exhausted. She added that the Council showed exceptional leadership by protecting the reefs NOAA has called America’s largest deep sea coral ecosystem` before they are harmed, while allowing room for fishing to continue.
It is informed that deep sea corals off the southeast coast include hundreds of pinnacles up to 500 feet tall. These corals provide homes for a variety of marine species, including sponges with unusual chemistry currently in testing to develop drugs for the treatment of cancer, heart disease and for other medical needs.
