site

  1. myWWF Sign in
  2. Sign up
  3. Help
  1. Home
  2. Who We Are
  3. What We Do
  4. About Our Earth
  5. How You Can Help
  6. News
  7. Climate
  1. Home
    1. What We Do
      1. How We Do This
        1. Expert Programmes
          1. Marine Programme
            1. Marine Protected Areas
              1. Increasing protection
Marine
About Our Oceans
Problems
Our Solutions
WWF Global Marine Programme
Marine Protected Areas
Sustainable fishing
Sustainable use
Climate change
News
Publications
What You Can Do

Increasing protection: the deep sea

Polyps of the deep-sea, cold-water coral <i>Lophelia pertusa</i>, Trondheimsfjorden, Norway.

Polyps of the deep-sea, cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa, Trondheimsfjorden, Norway.

© WWF-Canon / Erling SVENSEN

Protecting the unknown

WWF's Global Marine Programme is working to protect vulnerable sites in deep-sea ecosystems.

Why protect the deep sea?

We are only just beginning to comprehend the diversity of life in the deep seas. But certain areas are already suffering from damaging human activities, in particular bottom trawling. Between 30 and 50% of Norway’s deep-sea, cold-water coral reefs, for example, have already been damaged in this way.

More on the deep sea...

More information

Although this work has only recently started, we have already made some progress. For example:

  • Establishing deep-sea MPAs: For example, we helped establish the first deep-sea MPAs in the Atlantic Ocean, around two hydrothermal vent fields near the Azores, and are continuing work to establish further MPAs around seamounts, vents, cold-water corals, and other deep-sea habitats in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean. We were also involved in the designation of a huge underwater canyon off Canada's Atlantic coast - the Gully, which reaches depths of over 2000m - as an MPA, as well as in moves by the Irish government to protect the country’s cold-water coral reefs.

  • Stopping bottom trawling on sensitive deep-sea habitats: For example we helped secure... 
  • a ban by the Northeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission in 2006 on bottom trawling to protect cold-water corals on the Hatton and Rockall Banks outside Scotland
  • a ban in 2005 on bottom trawling in the Mediterranean Sea at depths below 1,000m, the first ban of its kind in the world
  • a European Union ban in 2005 on bottom trawling around the Azores Islands, as well as a ban on the use of gillnets and other entangling fishing nets at depths greater than 200m in the areas around the Azores, Madeira, and Canary Islands
  • a ban by the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) in 2004 on bottom trawling, bottom-set gillnets, and longline fishing in five vulnerable deep-sea areas in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean
  • a European Union regulation in 2004 to eliminate trawling near the UK's cold-water coral Darwin Mounds

  • Strengthening conservation policy for deep-sea areas: We also helped secure...
  • a commitment in 2003 by the OSPAR Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic to take immediate steps to protect European cold-water coral reefs from fisheries impacts, and to include deep seas features on the list of theatened and declining habitats
  • the incorporation of cold-water coral protection worldwide on the agendas of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) and UNEP's Coral Reef Unit
  • a commitment from the European Commission that the provisions of the EU Habitats and Birds Directives should be applied to the offshore limit of Member States' jurisdiction, and a call to nominate offshore sites to the Natura 2000 network by 2008
  • a commitment in 2006 by the United Nations General Assembly to urge states to ban bottom trawling unless it is conducted in compliance with regional management arrangements and can be shown to pose no significant threat to vulnerable marine ecosystems

Protected oases on the ocean floor

Crab and mussels living on the Menez Gwen hydrothermal vent, Atlantic Ocean.
Spewing hot, mineral-rich water into the darkness of the deep ocean, hydrothermal vents host an array of life which has adapted to living in often highly toxic waters and complete darkness. The species living around these vents cannot survive in the open ocean and so cannot move between vents. This means that each vent has its own unique set of species - often entirely new to science.

WWF worked with the Regional Government of the Azores to establish Marine Protected Areas around the Lucky Strike and Menez Gwen hydrothermal vents - the first deep-sea MPAs in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Lucky Strike vent field is at a depth of 1,700m and covers 21 active geysers across an area of roughly 150km2. The vents are dominated by dense beds of mussels, with 66 species being described to date.

The Menez Gwen field is at a depth of 850m. Its waters are less toxic, allowing the survival of non-specialized deep-sea species. The fauna is also dominated by mussels but these are overgrown by mats of bacteria.

Further information:

Photos and graphics © WWF or used with permission. Text available under a Creative Commons licence. RSS/Web Feeds

@import url('http://s3.amazonaws.com/getsatisfaction.com/feedback/feedback.css');