LONDON: A fisheries council in the U.S. has given its approval to ban certain fishing methods to protect the coral habitat in the deep-sea canyons that stretch 38,000 square miles from North Carolina to New York.
Although the plan is yet to be approved by the U.S. Commerce Secretary through a period of public commentary sessions, environmentalists regard the initial approval as a critically vital event in their quest to protect a part of the ocean’s vast ecosystem.
“It is the most sweeping move to date to protect ocean habitat off our most populous coastline,” said Brad Sewell, fisheries policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Environmental groups celebrated this milestone, which will protect an area of the ocean as large as Kentucky.
The approval given by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council prohibits the utilization of fishing materials such as trawls, bottom longlines, floor traps and dredges in identified marine areas.
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