Source: Stuff.co.nz
Author: Amber-Leigh Woolf
Commercial fishers are “bulldozing” ocean floors, says Greenpeace.
Its calculations show that in the 2017-2018 fishing season, New Zealand commercial fishing vessels destroyed up to 3000 tonnes of coral and other vulnerable species through bottom trawling.
Continue reading Fishing vessels ‘bulldozing’ oceans, destroying 3000 tonnes of coral in one year
Source: SciTechDaily
A collaboration between researchers at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), Hawai‘i Pacific University (HPU) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed for the first time growth rates of deep-sea coral communities and the pattern of colonization by various species.
Continue reading Growth Rates of Deep-Sea Coral Communities Revealed for the First Time
Source: Phys.org
Author: Krystle Anderson
The deep, cold waters off the rocky coast of Point Sur, California, are home to an unexpected community of organisms that most people associate with tropical settings—corals. Scientist Charlie Boch and his colleagues recently compared different methods to restore deep-sea coral by transplanting live coral fragments and measuring their survival rates. The experiment was conducted on Sur Ridge, 60 kilometers (37 miles) offshore and 800 to 1,300 meters (2,624 to 4,265 feet) below the ocean’s surface.
Continue reading Learning how to restore deep-sea coral communities
Source: Stuff.co.nz
Forest and Bird are claiming recently released letters show Talley’s fishing co, along with other bottom trawling companies, lobbied against seabed protection in the South Pacific.
Forest and Bird released the information on the eve of Talley’s appearance in court on charges of illegal bottom trawling.
Continue reading Forest and Bird release letters, slam trawling companies over seabed protection
Source: Folio
Author: Katie Willis
Sediment stirred up from fishing activity has a detrimental effect on reef-building sea sponges in northern British Columbia, according to a new study by University of Alberta biologists.
Continue reading Sediment from fishing choking out sea sponges, study shows
Source: Radio NZ
Author: Kate Gudsell
The petition was launched by environmental groups the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, ECO, Forest and Bird, Greenpeace, LegaSea and WWF-New Zealand as well as recreational fishers.
It is calling for the government to ban the destructive practice on seamounts, or submarine mountains, and other ecologically sensitive areas.
A recent report from NIWA on the impact of bottom trawling, concluded that the benthic communities on the seamounts had low resilience to the effects of bottom trawling.
It said New Zealand’s major deepwater fisheries occur on seamounts for a number of fish species, including orange roughy.
Continue reading here.
Source: NZ Herald
Leading environmental organisations and recreational fishers have joined forces to call on the government to restrict bottom trawling.
Continue reading Forces joined in battle against bottom trawling
Source: Phys.Org
DNA analysis recently confirmed that Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists and their collaborators at OceanX, the University of Connecticut (UConn), and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) discovered two new species of deep-sea corals during a September 2018 expedition in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument, located about 100 miles from the Northeast U.S. coast.
Continue reading New species of deep-sea corals discovered in Atlantic marine monument
Source: EarthSky
Author: Sandra Brooke
When people think of coral reefs, they typically picture warm, clear waters with brightly colored corals and fishes. But other corals live in deep, dark, cold waters, often far from shore in remote locations. These varieties are just as ecologically important as their shallow water counterparts. They also are just as vulnerable to human activitieslike fishing and energy production.
Continue reading Huge previously-undetected coral reef off US East Coast
Source: National Geographic
Author: Sarah Gibbens
It felt a lot like a moon landing to the researchers who experienced it—descending thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean into complete darkness. Ambient ocean light extends down only about 600 feet. After that, no amount of straining your eyes will help you see through the inky blackness.
Scientist Tim Shank and photographer Luis Lamar were descending into Lydonia canyon, one of several among the canyons and underwater mountains sitting 130 miles from Massachusetts, when they were slowly surrounded by darkness.
Continue reading Exclusive photos show deep-sea canyon in U.S. waters teeming with life
