Atlantic Fishery Management
Council Restricts Bottom Trawling
to Protect Deep Sea Coral

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC) voted on June 10th to restrict bottom-trawl fishing in 15 submarine canyons from North Carolina to New York that are a known habitat of a slow-growing Atlantic coral. The regulation would also ban bottom longlines, pots and traps, as well as non-fishing threats such as deep-sea mining, offshore energy and communications cables within a 38,000 square mile area.

The vote was supported by fishermen and conservation groups, who together negotiated specific boundaries to the restricted area, a process that took several months. The protected area is not currently fished commercially, but similar areas are fished in other portions of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone.