Lophelia bioherms and lithoherms as fish habitats on the Blake Plateau: Biodiversity and Sustainability

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With the decline of fisheries in shallow continental shelf, there is likelihood for commercial and sports-fishing pressure dipping down to deep-waters and deep-sea over the slope and seamounts. It is now well-known that dense aggregations of scleractinian coral Lophelia pertusa at bathyal depths (300 – 950 m) on both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean constitute fish habitats with high concentrations of non-target and commercial fish species. Oculina reefs off central Florida coast became the first MPAs in EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) in the US coast in 1980s but in 1990s inadequate action or failure in management strategies (mismanagement or lack of regulatory efforts to install VMS -Vessel Monitoring Systems in fishing vessels) resulted in habitat loss and fish decline (grouper and snapper species). The South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council (SAFMC) defined the Oculina reefs as Essential Fisheries Habitat (EFH) with a HAPC status (Habitat Areas of Particular Concern). North and east of the Oculina reserve are a series of Lophelia reefs that are primarily lithoherms (with some exceptions as the Agassiz Coral Hills off North Carolina, George, 2002). Along the Hatteras-Florida slope from Cape-Lookout to Cape Canaveral (300 to 500 m). Lophelia bioherms occur also at deeper depths down to 950 m at the eastern edge of the Blake Plateau. This paper describes six potential MPAs on Blake Plateau for the purpose of developing an ecosystem approach for sustainability and management of fisheries resources with emphasis on bicatch avoidance, species interaction, biodiversity characterization and an innovative new method to delineate the trophodynamics of the Lophelia pertusa ecosystem. This paper calls for prompt action to prevent further habitat damages.