Deep Sea Coral Canyons off Atlantic Coast to Gain Fishing Protections

A stretch of ocean that includes more than two dozen undersea coral canyons will become the largest protected area ever

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deep sea coral canyon

A Paragorgia coral from one of the canyons.
established in U.S. Atlantic waters, after a vote yesterday by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The 38,000-square-mile zone encompasses waters at the edge of the continental shelf, from Virginia to Massachusetts, and includes 27 deep sea canyons, some of which are nearly 100 miles long and are as deep as the Grand Canyon. Their steep walls are excellent habitat for a rich array of coral species that thrive in cold Atlantic waters. The new protections will shield rare, vulnerable, and ecologically important coral communities from bottom fishing and trawling — a highly destructive practice that involves dragging nets along the ocean floor, often destroying thousand-year-old coral communities in the process.