Take Action - Help Save Coral

Please send a fax to Paul Sprout, DFO's Regional Director General for the Pacific Region, urging him to:

implement immediate interim protection for deep sea corals
complete a rigorous Pacific Region Coral and Sponge Conservation Strategy
implement the Coral-Sponge Conservation Strategy through Integrated Fisheries Management Plans and the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA) marine planning process.

Your message will be cc'd to the Hon. Gail Shea, Fisheries Minister.

The Finding Coral Expedition has shown that there are areas of substantial deep sea coral abundance in Canada's Pacific waters, and that these corals are associated with a variety of fish and invertebrate species such as rockfish, crab and shrimp. Unfortunately, the expedition also brought to light yet more evidence that fishing activities can harm and destroy these corals.

Currently, there are no areas set aside for the protection of deep sea corals in Canada's Pacific waters. While our globally unique glass sponge reefs are now protected from bottom contact fishing gears, vessels using these gears are still able to fish without regard for their impact on deep sea corals.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) knows that this is not sustainable, and since 2006 has been developing a strategy to protect corals and sponges in the Pacific. This strategy is, however, far from finished, and it may be too weak to offer real protection. We need a strong strategy and we need it soon. That strategy will be most effective if it is implemented through both Integrated Fisheries Management Plans (IFMPs) and the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA) marine planning process. To protect corals in the meantime, we also need interim protection for areas with abundant coral. With the input of the fishing industry, marine conservation groups such as Living Oceans Society, and other stakeholders, DFO can develop a fair and effective interim protection plan for the most important coral areas.

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To: Paul Sprout, RDG, Pacific Region, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Dear Mr. Sprout:

I am writing to request that the protection of deep sea corals in Canada's Pacific region be given the highest priority by your department in three ways:

1. Protect areas of known coral abundance by granting them immediate interim protection from bottom contact fisheries,
2. Complete a rigorous and science-based Pacific Region Coral and Sponge Conservation Strategy with a concrete timeline, and
3. Implement the Pacific Region Coral and Sponge Conservation Strategy through Integrated Fisheries Management Plans (IFMPs) and the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA) marine planning process.

On the recent Finding Coral Expedition, Living Oceans Society and a team of international scientists, including a DFO scientist, found and documented abundant forests of deep sea corals in Canada's Pacific waters. Scattered in and among these corals were numerous juvenile and adult fish and invertebrates, which were using the corals for resting, hiding or feeding. Unfortunately, the scientists also found evidence of damage by commercial fishing, including areas ploughed by bottom trawl gear.

The results of the Finding Coral Expedition offer evidence of the type and extent of corals in Canada's Pacific, their importance to other species, the threats posed to them by human activities, and the need to protect these corals from the most damaging human activities. As you know, there are currently no closures in Canada's Pacific waters to protect corals. This stands in contrast to the Maritimes, where there are three closures to protect deep sea corals, and to the U.S., who have implemented vast bottom trawling closures to protect deep sea habitat.

Your department's efforts to rectify this gap in protection by creating a Pacific Region Coral and Sponge Conservation Strategy are commendable. I urge you to see that a rigorous strategy is completed and implemented through IFMPs and the PNCIMA process. In the meantime, the areas that we know to have the highest abundance of corals need to be protected from bottom-contact fishing to prevent irreversible damage.

Sincerely,

cc: The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

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Take Action - Help Save Coral

Please send a fax to Paul Sprout, DFO's Regional Director General for the Pacific Region, urging him to:

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