deep-sea tagged posts

New Canada Refuge Protects Deep-Water Corals

On World Oceans Day, June 8, the Government of Canada announced the establishment of the Eastern Canyons Marine Refuge, an area of 43,976 square kilometres (about 17,000 square miles) off the coast of Nova Scotia. This region, which stretches out to Canada’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), includes both deep-sea canyons and abyssal plain, and will now be protected from bottom-contact fishing—including trawling, traps, and longlines—under Canada’s Fisheries Act. The act safeguards the nation’s fish and fish habitats and is an example of how tools other than marine protected areas (MPAs) can be used to conserve marine habitat. 

Dr...

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Deep sea shark nursery found in Outer Hebrides

The discovery of the first deep-sea shark spawning ground in Scotland has fuelled calls for better protection of the seas and the nation’s multi-million pound wildlife tourism sector.

Marine biologists at Heriot-Watt University revealed that they have found a nursery for the blackmouth catshark on a coral reef in the Outer Hebrides.

Scientists at the university said their work highlighted the “essential” need to safeguard sharks and the economy they support.

The Mingulay Reef, which is already a Special Area of Conservation, has been awaiting designation as a European marine protected area (MPA) – and the greater protection for the habitat and wildlife that would bring – for three years.

Dr Lea-Anne Henry, who led the latest research at Heriot-Watt University, said: “It’s very e...

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