Protection plan deep-sea coral reefs considered

Brian Skoloff, Associated Press Yahoo News 18 Aug 09;

FIFTY MILES OFF CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Deep beneath the crystalline blue surface of the Atlantic Ocean off the southeastern U.S. lies a virtual rain forest of coral reefs so expansive the network is believed to be the world's largest.

A 23,000-square-mile area stretching from North Carolina to Florida is just part of that entire reef tract now being proposed for protection from potential damage by deep-sea commercial fishing and energy exploration.

So far, it's been relatively untouched by man because of its largely unreachable depths, providing scientists a unique opportunity to protect an ecosystem before it's destroyed.

"Most of the time, science is trying to catch up with exploitation," said Steve Ross of the Center for Marine Science at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Ross is leading a four-part research cruise that began Aug. 6 aimed at studying these deep sea environments, hoping to find new species of fish, crab and corals that could lead to scientific and medical discoveries.

Environmentalists say crab pots and bottom trawling for shrimp are the most immediate threats.

Margot Stiles, a marine scientist for Oceana, an international environmental advocacy group, said other deep water reefs off the U.S. have been severely damaged by trawlers.

"In this case, we have 23,000 square miles of known deep sea corals, and it's not too late to protect them," Stiles said. "This particular reef is to the deep sea what the Great Barrier Reef is for the world."

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is pushing the proposal to protect the region, about the size of West Virginia, in depths down to 2,500 feet and below, creating the largest deep water coral protected area off the Atlantic Coast.

Specifics on regulations and restrictions are still being reviewed, but if approved by the U.S. Commerce Secretary, the plan could take effect by next year.

"As far as we can tell, there's relatively little damage," Ross said. "That's very different from other parts of the world. In Scotland and Ireland ... there's been significant damage mostly from fishing and now those reefs are being protected."

While fishermen have for centuries dragged up corals from the deep sea, it wasn't until the early 1900s that scientists discovered these extensive cold-water reefs existed. And it wasn't until the 1970s that researchers were able to use submersibles and cameras to reach the sea floor to document them. It had long been thought coral reefs only formed in shallow, warm waters.

Deep water reefs and pinnacles are much more slow-growing and can take several million years to form. Ross said science is only now beginning to understand these underwater "frontier zones."

Out on the research ship, scientists gather corals, sponges and fish samples by sinking deep to the ocean floor in a four-man submersible about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. The team is comprised of researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Florida Atlantic University, the U.S. Geological Survey and others.

"We've barely seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of new species out here," Ross said. "We'll find out five or 10 years from now that we made an amazing discovery and we just didn't realize it ... A lot of our pharmaceuticals come from a tropical rainforest environment. The same people are looking for these in the deep sea, and there are expectations that there will be drugs made that could potentially provide cures for some types of cancer.

"There is just a great deal of concern that once these habitats are gone, the potential for realizing those discoveries are eliminated," Ross added.

The deep water reefs also are seen as indicators of the ocean's overall health; because they are so remote, it takes longer for phenomenon like climate change to affect them.

"Science is questions, it's not answers," said Liz Baird of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, cautioning that it may be years before researchers realize the full potential of the reefs.

Most in the fishing industry agree that protecting these reefs is good for business, said Steven Wilson, owner of International Oceanic Enterprises in Alabama. Wilson has been shrimping in the Atlantic for 30 years and has been working with officials preparing the protection plan.

While law enforcement says some fishermen will drop crab pots or drag nets near fragile corals to score big catches, regardless of the damage, Wilson said it's mostly accidental.

"We can't make any money trawling over coral. In fact, we lose money," he said, noting that it destroys the nets.

Woody Moore, a commercial fishermen out of Jacksonville, Fla., has been trawling for shrimp in the Atlantic for three decades and also has been helping develop the deep reef protection proposals.

Moore puts it simply: "We don't want any closures but you gotta give them something or they'll take it all. You gotta play the game."

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On the Net:

Daily logs and information from the research cruise:

http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/DISCOVRE/cruise(underscore)plan(underscore)2009.html

http://naturalsciences.org/microsites/education/deepsea/index.html

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council: http://www.safmc.net/

Oceana: http://www.oceana.org

New Marine Protected Areas Declared in Mexico
Three new preserves will protect 795,000 acres of Mexico's oceans
The Nature Conservancy 18 Aug 09;

COZUMEL, QUINTANA ROO, MEXICO — June 2009— As part of World Environment Day celebrations hosted this year by Mexico, President Felipe Calderón announced the creation of three new marine protected areas, including Mexico’s first deep sea marine protected area. The Guaymas Basin and Eastern Pacific Rise Hydrothermal Vents Sanctuary, the Lobos-Tuxpan Reef System Flora and Fauna Protected Area, and the Whale Shark Biosphere Reserve will together help protect 795,000 acres of Mexico’s oceans.

The Guaymas Basin and Eastern Pacific Rise Hydrothermal Vents Sanctuary will actually protect 360,000 acres of benthic (deep sea) habitats around two underwater hydrothermal vent systems in the Gulf of California and in the Pacific Ocean west of the Baja California Peninsula. The sanctuary will protect the water column from the sea floor up to approximately 1,650 feet below the water’s surface, which means the fisheries industry will not be affected.

The Guaymas Basin polygon in the Gulf of California measures approximately 118,000 acres, with hydrothermal vents located at a depth of approximately 5,900 feet. The Eastern Pacific Rise polygon in the Pacific Ocean measures approximately 242,000 acres, with hydrothermal vents located at a depth of approximately 8,500 feet.

Hydrothermal vents are fissures in the Earth's crust that emit water heated from below the surface. Above ground, hydrothermal vents often take the form of hot springs and geysers, but on the ocean floor, these vents form columns of water much hotter than the surrounding ocean water. Some of these under-sea vents—known as black smokers—create black, billowing flues when the heavy concentrations of sulfur and other minerals in these super-heated jets come in contact with the cold water of deep seas. Black smokers are present in the Eastern Pacific Rise portion of the new sanctuary.

Other-worldly animal communities of giant tube worms, mollusks and crustaceans thrive on bacteria that feed on sulfur and other chemicals dissolved in the vent fluids. At least 41 species of invertebrates and two vertebrate species occur in these two new protected areas. Of these, eight are endemic to Mexican hydrothermal vents, such as the tube worm Ridgeia piscesae. These creatures represent ideal models for studying how animals adapt to extreme environments.

The Nature Conservancy’s Mexico Program—together with Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo, A.C., Guaymas Unit—provided technical support and data to Mexico’s National Protected Areas Commission in developing the justification study used in the creation of this new sanctuary.

Not only is this sanctuary a first for Mexico, but it also is a new strategy for deep-sea conservation and a successful model that can be expanded to other deep-sea habitats where fisheries interests might prevent the protection of the entire water column.

The other two marine protected areas announced by President Calderón in celebration of World Environment Day will also preserve important ocean habitats. The 75,500-acre Lobos–Tuxpan Reef System Flora and Fauna Protected Area adjacent to the state of Veracruz will protect the country’s northernmost Gulf of Mexico reefs, and the 360,000-acre Whale Shark Biosphere Reserve will shelter one of the world’s largest concentrations of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus). The Nature Conservancy supports local organizations already doing whale shark research in this zone where the nutrient-poor Caribbean Sea meets the much richer Gulf of Mexico, and data will be shared with the new park’s managers to help ensure the protection of the species.