Seeking to protect deep-sea coral beds and other sensitive fish habitat, a US federal fishing council banned bottom trawling this month over more than 370,000 square miles off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, the largest such action taken anywhere in the world.
“It is a paradigm shift in how we treat the oceans and fisheries management,” said Phil Kline, senior fisheries advisor for Deep Sea Conservation Coalition member, Oceana. Read the full article appearing in the Washington Times by Marion Baillot. More information: • View photos and videos of corals and their destruction from the Aleutian Islands on Oceana’s Pacific Deep Sea Corals site.
• Oceana press release, 11 February 2005.
• North Pacific Fishery Management Council website
• North Pacific Fishery Managers Protect Globally Significant Corals from Destructive Effects of Bottom Trawl Fisheries, Alaska Marine Conservation Council, 10 February 2005.
• Coral concerns spur vast trawling ban, by Craig Welch, Seattle Times, 11 February 2005.
• Council votes to restrict bottom trawling in Aleutian Islands, 10 February 2005, Seattle Post Intelligencer
• Preliminary Final Environmental Impact Statement for Essential Fish Habitat Identification and Conservation in Alaska, NOAA Fisheries.
