The only coral reef in Canada's Pacific waters 'shouldn't exist' — but it's thriving, biologist says | CBC News (2024)

Nono Shen · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Mar 07, 2024 8:49 PM EST | Last Updated: March 12

Federal authorities have closed Canada's only known livecoralreefin the Pacific Ocean to all commercial and recreational bottom-contact fishing.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada says the indefinite closure came into effect on Feb. 14 for the LopheliaReef, located in the Finlayson Channel ofBritish Columbia's Central Coast, about500 kilometres northwest of Vancouver.

The department says thereefwas first discovered in 2021 and is the "first and only" known live coral reef in Canada's Pacific, as well as the most northern knowncoralreefin the entire ocean.

Officials say while the area is remote and not widely fished, there is evidence of damage to thecoral, likely due to bottom-contact fishing.

The fisheries department says the closure is needed to protect the "globally unique" site that is both environmentally sensitive and culturally significant to theKitasoo Xai'xais and Heiltsuk First Nations.

Thecoralreefis currently being assessed for a Parks Canada national marine conservation area reserve.

"Protection of the unique habitat of this LopheliaReef and all the life it supports aligns well with our Nation's world view and laws,"K̓áwáziɫ, Marilyn Slett, elected chief councillor of the Heilstsuk Tribal Council said in a written release.

"Everything is connected and everything has a right to live in a healthy environment that supports healthy ecosystems and healthy populations that is free from unintended intrusion of destructive fishing practice."

'Like a tropical coral reef in the dark'

Cherisse Du Preez, head of the deep-sea ecology program with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, called it "an astonishing find," describing the reef as a "hidden hotspot ...like a tropical coral reef in the dark."

She began searching for the LopheliaReef in 2021, taking a remote controlled submersible deep into the Finlayson Channel.

On what was to be their team's last dive for the expedition they found it, a "thriving, beautiful," ecosystem about 200 metres down.

Hidden in the reef, she said, are crabs, octopus, schools of fish and, potentially, the only place in the world where coral reefs and glass sponge reefs co-exist.

"You light it up and you realize you're the first person to ever see this:beautiful pinks and purples and yellows, crevasses, mounts. And once you see past the corals, you realize that there are other animals on them," said Du Preez.

Its discovery and mapping was the result of a collaboration between Fisheries and Oceans Canada, theKitasoo Xai'xaisand the Central Coast Indigenous Resource Alliance (CCIRA), which includes several Central Coast First Nations.

"Wherever these corals live, they help build habitats that provide nurseries, refuge and feeding grounds for other marine wildlife, and help enhance local biological diversity and abundance," the CCIRAsaid in an online release from 2021.

"Similar to tropical coral reef species,Lophelialeave hard calcium carbonate skeletons, on which the next generation can grow."

All the science and rationale in the world says the coral reef shouldn't exist here, but the First Nations knew something was there, said DuPreez.

Mike Reid, fisheries manager for Heiltsuk Nation's integrated resource management department, said his nation always knew that something was supporting the fish in the area, but they didn't know what it was.

"LopheliaReef is very important to the ecosystem, to the biodiversity of that specific area, it adds to the overall health of that area," said Reid.

Du Preez said they found dead coral around the reef, which could be the fault of climate change.

"It's a very big concern, and that's one of the reasons why it's so important to stop fishing in this area is because we have to take away all the stresses we can to give this reef an opportunity to survive the changes that we can't control."

A one-degree change in temperature could be devastating for the reef, she said.

Leri Davies, spokespersonfor Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Pacific Region, said fishery officers from their Conservation and Protection Branch routinely patrol marine refuges, marine protected areas and closed areas.

"We use a variety of intelligence-led enforcement methods including air, ocean, river, and ground surveillance, as well as night and covert patrols, to actively monitor fishing activities in all sectors and ensure compliance with the laws," said a department statement.

Du Preez said Canada's Pacific coast is "globally unique," with nature and wildlife not found anywhere else.

She said the reef would join "sea wolves, spirit bears, sea lions and herring," among the wonders of the oceans of B.C.'s north and central coasts.

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