CORALS OF CALIFORNIA

"Ancient groves of invertebrates are being clearcut by trawling just as quickly and surely as loggers felled groves of giant redwoods." -Callum Roberts, Ph.D.

Few people are aware that the continental shelf, slope, and canyons of California’s ocean are home to a diversity of deep sea corals. Like redwoods, California’s deep sea corals can live to be hundreds or even thousands of years old. Large corals like Hydrocorals, gorgonian corals, and black corals grow in high densities around the Channel Islands, Monterey Bay, the Gulf of the Farallones off San Francisco, and the continental slope off Northern California. Hydrocorals and gorgonian sea fans are commonly seen by divers in Southern California. These deep sea corals, along with sponges, kelp forests, anemones, tunicates, and crinoids, form the living components of biogenic habitats, which provide shelter for a variety of sea life, including rockfish, crabs, lingcod, garibaldi, and many others. Some of California’s corals may be older than the towering redwood counterparts on land.

Scientists recently discovered a new species of deep-sea coral off the coast of Santa Barbara. They named the new species “Christmas tree coral” (Antipathes dendrochristos) since it grows over 6 feet tall and resembles pink, white, and red flocked Christmas trees. This discovery shows the importance of protecting areas that have not yet been trawled. Scientists have only explored less than one percent of California’s seafloor. Who knows what else scientists will discover as they venture to new, unexplored underwater frontiers off our coast? Click here to go to the article.

Trawlers up and down the coast are destroying California’s corals and sponges. Despite recent trawl closures to protect overfished rockfish, trawlers are free to move into new areas of the continental slope and shelf known to contain corals. Major trawl fisheries off California target flatfish, whiting, and rockfish. Deep boulder habitats like Cordell Bank provide a natural refuge for overfished species such as bocaccio, yelloweye rockfish, vermilion rockfish, and canary rockfish, which are frequently observed in these areas. (Click Here for Description of Study).

The Pacific Fishery Management Council is responsible for habitat protection and the management of bottom trawling in California. Along with a coalition of environmental and recreational fishing groups, Oceana developed a comprehensive, collaborative proposal to protect important undersea habitats, while maintaining vibrant fisheries off the California Coast. With the help of 19,373 Oceana wavemaker comments, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted unanimously to adopt the Oceana proposal, which was mostly approved by NOAA on March 8, 2006 (click here to see a map of the areas closed to bottom trawling). Map: West Coast EFH closures

Off California, this action brought protection to Monterey Bay and Canyon, the Channel Islands, Cordell Bank, Eel River Canyon, and all major seamounts. In addition, new data from NOAA identified areas of sensitive hard bottom habitat and biogenic areas containing high densities of corals and sponges that are now protected. It also prevents trawlers from venturing into previously untrawled areas where they have the potential to destroy coral beds before they are discovered. At the same time, areas of high economic importance to the trawl industry remain open.

Additional success: In 2004, Oceana successfully worked with other conservation groups in California to promote and pass a state bill to protect marine life from bottom trawling. SB 1459, introduced by Senator Dede Alpert and signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger, established effective and precautionary procedures to help protect seafloor habitat in state waters from destructive bottom trawling.

Hydrocoral on rocky reef, San Clemente Island, CA. Copyright Phillip Colla.

Golden gorgonian in kelp forest, San Clemente Island, CA. Copyright Phillip Colla.

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