Distribution of deep-water corals of the Flemish Cap, Flemish Pass, and the Grand Banks of Newfoundland (Northwest Atlantic Ocean): interaction with fishing activities

Abstract

Murillo, F. J., Durán Muñoz, P., Altuna, A., and Serrano, A. 2011. Distribution of deep-water corals of the Flemish Cap, Flemish Pass, and the Grand Banks of Newfoundland (Northwest Atlantic Ocean): interaction with fishing activities. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 319–332. The distribution of deep-water corals of the Flemish Cap, Flemish Pass, and the Grand Banks of Newfoundland is described based on bycatch from Spanish/EU bottom trawl groundfish surveys between 40 and 1500 m depth. In all, 37 taxa of deep-water corals were identified in the study area: 21 alcyonaceans (including the gorgonians), 11 pennatulaceans, 2 solitary scleractinians, and 3 antipatharians. The greatest diversity of coral species was on the Flemish Cap. Corals were most abundant along the continental slope, between 600 and 1300 m depth. Soft corals (alcyonaceans), sea fans (gorgonians), and black corals (antipatharians) were most common on bedrock or gravel, whereas sea pens (pennatulaceans) and cup corals (solitary scleractinians) were found primarily on mud. The biomass of deep-water corals in the bycatches was highest in previously lightly trawled or untrawled areas, and generally low in the regularly fished grounds. The information derived from bottom-trawl bycatch records is not sufficient to map vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) accurately, but pending more detailed habitat mapping, it provides a valuable indication of the presence/absence of VMEs that can be used to propose the candidate areas for bottom fishery closures or other conservation measures.

Distributional patterns of deep-sea coral assemblages in three submarine canyons off Newfoundland, Canada

“…Other species found in this study confirm those recorded in extensive fishery and trawl surveys of the Grand Banks and surrounding areas, though several studies did not report Chrysogorgia agassizi (Gass & Willison 2005, Wareham & Edinger 2007, Murillo et al 2010). Our cruise identified at least 3 species of Flabellum, compared to the one (F. alabastrum) recorded by the other survey methods (Wareham & Edinger 2007, Murillo et al 2010. Mortensen et al (2006b) found F. macandrewi along the Scotian Shelf and within The Gully off Nova Scotia, but not off Newfoundland and Labrador.…”

“…Murillo et al (2010) found only 17 species on the Grand Banks during their bottom trawl surveys, Mortensen et al (2006b) identified 12 species on the Grand Banks using a variety of techniques, and Wareham & Edinger (2007) recorded 30 species throughout all Newfoundland and Labrador waters. In a towed camera survey of more southerly canyons, found at least 12 species of corals in Baltimore Canyon, 13 species in Lydonia Canyon, and 16 species in Oceanographer Canyon.…”

“…Coral research in the deep waters off Newfoundland and Labrador is still in its infancy, but substantial knowledge and data began to accumulate from these previously unknown deep waters when dedicated deep-sea coral research began in this region in 2003 (e.g. Edinger et al 2007a,b, Wareham & Edinger 2007, Gilkinson & Edinger 2009, Murillo et al 2010). These biogeographic and ecological studies concentrated on results from broad-scale trawl surveys and/or bycatch from fisheries observer programs.…”

A First Approach to Assess the Impact of Bottom Trawling Over Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems on the High Seas of the Southwest Atlantic

“…Benthic fauna samples were sorted on board and preserved (70% ethanol or 4% buffered formaldehyde-seawater solution) for further identification analysis. Even if the bottom-trawl by-catch collected information did not allow for a detailed habitat mapping of VMEs, it provided a valuable indication of VME presence/absence that can be used to propose conservation measures, such as candidate areas for bottom fishery closures [23]. .…”

“…Several authors [2,3,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] have studied the potential disturbance of the seabed by bottom otter trawls and the possible negative effects on the structure of benthic communities. In recent years, several resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly [24][25][26][27][28] on sustainable fisheries made a call to States and RFMOs to identify vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) and determine whether bottom fishing activities would cause a significant adverse impact on such ecosystems.…”