"Protection Voted for Deep-Sea Corals Off Mid-Atlantic Coast"

"Cold-water corals growing in deep water off Maryland and the rest of the mid-Atlantic coast would be protected from most harmful fishing activity under a sweeping plan approved Wednesday.

Meeting in Virginia Beach, Va., the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted to restrict fishing activity over a swath of deep ocean bottom stretching from Long Island to Virginia. Covering more than 38,000 square miles, the area includes "submarine" canyons cut in the rim of the Outer Continental Shelf, where in recent years scientists have discovered previously unsuspected "gardens" of corals.

Conservationists hailed the council's recommendation, which comes after more than three years of study and debate about how best to protect the coral communities from bottom trawling and dredging."

Timothy B. Wheeler reports for the Baltimore Sun June 10, 2015.