HR: 14:15h
AN: OS52J-02    [PDF]
TI: Conservation of Habitat Forming Deep-Sea Corals in the Northeast Pacific
AU: * Morgan, L
EM: lance@mcbi.org
AF: Marine Conservation Biology Inst., 4878 Warm Springs Rd, Glen Ellen, CA 95442 United States
AU: Etnoyer, P
EM: peter@mcbi.org
AF: MCBI, 3777 Griffith View Dr., Los Angeles, CA United States
AB: Habitat forming deep-sea octocorals of the families Corallidae, Isididae, Paragorgiidae and Primnoidae, are wide spread and abundant throughout their depth ranges in Northeast Pacific. Other coral families are also widespread (Antipathidae and Stylasteriidae), although the scleractinian families Oculinidae and Caryophylliidae are relatively uncommon. Recent focus in the United States on the role of deep-sea corals as essential fish habitat and its designation under US fishery management has led to greater conservation focus on these seafloor organisms. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is required to identify and protect essential fish habitat under provisions of the Magnuson Stevens Fisheries Management and Conservation Act (1996). Here we present records of habitat forming deep-sea corals from the northeast Pacific. This analysis highlights areas of high concentration such as the west coast continental shelf break, Monterey submarine canyon, Hawaiian Islands and the Aleutian Islands archipelago in Alaska. These areas also support varying efforts of commercial fishing activity. This information is important to identifying essential fish habitat. Management aimed at seafloor protection should not inadvertently shift fishing effort to more sensitive seafloor areas such as deep-sea coral aggregations.
DE: 4815 Ecosystems, structure and dynamics
DE: 9355 Pacific Ocean
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2004 Ocean Sciences Meeting