NOAA Fisheries’ Proposal Places Rare Corals Under Threat
Proposal would open rare Oculina Bank coral reef to fishing
Press Release Date: September 21, 2026
Location: Washington
Contact:
Megan Jordan, Jamie Karnik | email: mjordan@oceana.org, jkarnik@oceana.org | tel: 202.868.4061, 907-635-8722
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries proposed to reopen 14 square nautical miles of fragile coral reef habitat in the Oculina Bank off Florida’s Atlantic coast to shrimp trawling. The area is the only known place in the world where rare ivory tree corals form massive, high-density, deep-water reef structures. These corals thrive only in the deep, dark ocean, and in the Oculina Bank form reefs and pinnacles that develop over thousands of years and stretch up to 100 feet above the seafloor.
Coral reefs in the Oculina Bank provide essential spawning and nursery habitat for sea bass, snapper, shrimp, crab, and other species important to recreational and commercial fisheries in Florida. The area has been closed to fishing since 1984 after scientists realized that fishing using trawl nets had already destroyed more than 90% of the area’s unique coral reefs.
Oceana Marine Scientist Alex Aines issued the following response to this proposal:
“Reopening the Oculina Bank to trawling places one of the crown jewels of U.S. oceans at potential risk and could destroy some of the last remaining ivory tree coral structures on the planet. This fragile and critically important area has been rightfully protected for more than 40 years, and there’s simply no good reason to reopen portions of it now or ever.
“These unique and ancient coral colonies can be hundreds of years old but can be wiped out by a single pass of a trawl net. NOAA Fisheries’ proposal puts a unique habitat unlike anything in the world at risk of eradication, putting not just these corals at risk but also the economically valuable commercial and recreational fish populations that rely on them for survival. NOAA Fisheries must not move forward with this short-sighted move to sweep the Oculina Bank into history.”
BACKGROUND
The Oculina Bank is located between 15 to 45 miles off the eastern coast of Florida. This deep-water reef is the only known place on earth where rare ivory tree corals (Oculina varicosa) form extensive reef structures.
Ivory tree corals are a deep-water species that thrives in a cold, dark environment. These corals grow at a rate of only 1-2 centimeters each year, but over thousands of years can form into mounds and create pinnacles and ridges that stretch up to 100 feet from the ocean floor. The Oculina Bank is the only known area on Earth where these rare coral structures are found.
Ancient coral reefs in the Oculina Bank are also essential habitat for key fish species, serving as spawning and nursery grounds for snapper, sea bass, grouper, sharks, crab and shrimp. Many of those species are essential to healthy recreational and commercial fisheries in Florida.
The area was extensively fished until the 1980s, when scientists and fishery managers began to realize that trawl nets, anchors and other gear dragging along the seafloor had destroyed more than 90% of the reef. In response, in 1984 NOAA Fisheries designated the area as a Habitat Area of Particular Concern and closed the area to any fishing gear that would potentially contact the seafloor in order to protect the remaining intact coral reefs.
The proposed amendment would reverse some of those protections and could have lasting impacts on some of the last remaining ivory tree coral reef structures on Earth. New trawl activity would likely damage this fragile ecosystem, and sediments stirred up by those same trawl nets could smother existing corals and prevent new ones from growing.
