The Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-sea Coral Protection Area
The Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-sea Coral Protection Area in the mid-Atlantic. ‘Discrete’ zones protect defined areas of canyons and canyon complexes based on known coral distributions or outputs of predictive models that rank the likely presence of suitable coral habitats. The ‘broad’ zone protects a large area of deepwater habitats extending from approximately 450 meter depth on the slope out to the 200 mile U.S. boundary limit (E.E.Z.). The objective is to protect corals by limiting future expansion of bottom fishing in an area that is largely outside the footprint of current fishing activity.