NOAA Rejects Expansion of Rock Shrimp Bottom Trawl Fishery in FL; Decision saves remnants of fragile Oculina coral habitat found nowhere else on Earth

[Washington, DC-July 29, 2022] National Oceanographic and Atmospheric (NOAA) officials rejected amendment 10 from the US South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to reopen a sensitive deep-sea coral ecosystem on the Florida coast. The Oculina Banks Habitat Area of Particular Concern, the only remaining area where Ivory-Tree coral (Oculina varicosa) grows in reefs, has been protected for nearly 40 years since 1984.?A recent proposal sought to resume destructive fishing in this area, but local and national conservation groups, scientists, recreational fishermen and civil society mounted a loud campaign to safeguard this critical habitat.

Mike Gravitz, Marine Conservation Institute’s head of government affairs, congratulated NOAA leadership, “We applaud the leadership at NOAA Fisheries for following the abundant science that shows this area to be unique and the common sense that bottom trawling very close to fragile corals is risky for the corals. Rejecting Amendment 10 and safeguarding the remnants of the Oculina Coral Banks is the right thing to do for so many reasons. He continued, “The Oculina Banks are a national treasure and need strong and lasting protections in place.”

According to Marine Conservation Institute president Dr. Lance Morgan, “Maintaining these protections now in the face of unrelenting climate change is critical to securing a healthy ocean; and it is just the right leadership we need from NOAA to recover from decades of unsustainable pressure on our natural ecosystems. We applaud their decision today. “

#NOAAFisheries, #CoralReefs, #RickSpinrad, #JanetCoit, #CEQ, #ConservationAllianceofStLucieCounty