Deep-Sea Coral the Focus of New Research and Technology Program

Jennifer Schull
NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center

April 20, 2009 — Deep-sea coral living quietly in the dark waters off the U.S. coast are now in the spotlight.

NOAA is launching a new Deep-Sea Coral Research and Technology Program to explore, characterize, research, and map deep-coral ecosystems to understand their ecology and linkages to federally managed species. The program is working to provide information that resource managers need to manage and conserve these unique ecosystems, bringing together expertise from NMFS, OAR, NOS, and NESDIS.

Also known as “cold-water” corals, deep-water corals are long-lived corals nestled on continental shelves, slopes, canyons and seamounts usually at depths between 50 and 3,000 meters where they support rich, biologically diverse ecosystems. Not surprisingly, fragile deep-sea coral reefs face constant danger from sophisticated deep-water fishing activities, coral harvesting, fossil fuel and mineral exploration and extraction, and submarine cables and pipelines. Invasive species, climate change, and ocean acidification also pose formidable threats.

In its inaugural year, the deep-sea coral program will focus on deep coral areas off the southeastern U.S. that have yet to be fully explored, mapped, or characterized. This region has a long history of proactive conservation of deep-sea corals. The Oculina Habitat Area of Particular Concern (HAPC) off Florida’s east coast — proposed by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and established by NOAA in 1984 — was the world’s first marine protected area specifically designed to safeguard deep-sea corals.

The council is now proposing even more dramatic action by recommending establishment of the largest area of HAPCs in the U.S. Atlantic. The proposed area will protect deep-sea coral habitats covering approximately 23,000 square miles.

Principal investigator Andrew David from NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center has established a "one-NOAA" team to develop this year’s science plan. Members of the team include John Tomczuk (OAR), Andrew Shepard (NURC-OAR), George Sedberry (NOS), and Tim Battista (NOS), with input from agency and academic partners. The team plans three cruise-based expeditions during the next 18 months.

The deep coral program has a long-term plan to expand activities to other U.S. regions. The program has reached out beyond NOAA by working on joint initiatives with universities, nongovernmental organizations, state, and international partners, such as Canada and the European Union.

To learn more about deep-sea coral, read NOAA’s State of Deep Coral Ecosystems of the United States: 2007 at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/dce.html.