Ireland's cold water corals under threat

Cold-water corals off Ireland's west coast are being damaged by deep-water fishing gear and are in urgent need of protection.

Marine biologist Dr Jason Hall-Spencer, a team member aboard a German research vessel, examined the spectacular coral reefs in 2003.

Speaking at a conference today in Trinity College Dublin, Dr Hall-Spencer, a marine biologist from the University of Plymouth, said: "Few people realise that we have such interesting, precious and dramatic habitats right on our doorstep.

"Some of these areas have yet to be explored, but even before we’ve had a chance to see their treasures, they’re being bulldozed by deep-water trawling. It’s crucial that we take steps to protect the coral reefs before it’s too late."

The reefs in Dr Hall-Spencer’s videos lie 85 km offshore at a depth of 1 km, although they extend down as far as 3 km.

Fishermen seeking catches in ever-deeper waters, and with heavy gear on modern boats are damaging the reefs.

The boats drag a large, cone-shaped net held open by large steel flaps weighing several tonnes and it is these that are damaging the coral outcrops.

Dr Hall-Spencer said that around 40% of the coral filmed in 2003 was damaged.

"They smash corals 4,500 years old. Their nets plough through anything that’s fragile. They wipe out fish and there’s no longer any habitat for them to breed," he said.

Some scientists say that any damage occurring now may take many hundreds, if not thousands, of years to recover.

Dr Hall-Spencer called for an existing satellite system used to track fishing boats and to sound an alarm if they stray into protected areas.

The Vessel Monitoring System is currently used on all EU fishing boats longer than 15 metres – the very ones most likely to fish in deep waters.

"The idea would be to have exclusion areas around the world’s best examples of deep-water habitat, like the pristine coral reefs off Ireland," says Dr Hall-Spencer. Fishing with trawled gear would not be permitted in these areas.

"This would protect habitats where fish aggregate to breed and would benefit the industry by helping ensure that it is sustainable and avoiding unnecessary damage to their gear," he added.

The cold water coral reefs, some thought to be more than 8,500 years old, were discovered in the late 1990s by oil prospectors who found what looked like huge humps on the sea bed.

There are thousands of creatures on the reefs in an intricate and delicate ecology but amongst the sea-life are commercially valuable redfish.

(SP/KMcA)