Abstract
This report summarizes the objectives, accomplishments, and outcomes of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) West Coast Deep-Sea Coral Initiative (WCDSCI), funded by the Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program1 (DSCRTP). The four-year initiative (2018-2021) was designed to explore, map, characterize, and conduct research on deepwater coral and sponge habitats in the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) region, inclusive of waters off California, Oregon, and Washington. Rotating regional initiatives are a part of DSCRTP’s national strategy to support deep-sea coral and sponge (DSCS) habitat research and management needs across the US. The first West Coast regional initiative took place in 2010-2012.
The West Coast marine region lies within the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem. Vibrant DSCS communities have been observed across a diversity of seafloor features throughout the region’s Exclusive Economic Zone, including both soft and hard bottom substrates along features such as offshore seamounts, basins, oil and methane seeps, and submarine canyons. DSCS communities have been identified as Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) by PFMC as they provide a number of ecosystem services that are critical to the health of surrounding ecological communities as well as the economic systems they support, such as recreational and commercial fisheries. In spite of this, several natural and anthropogenic threats impact these habitats.
Bottom-contact fishing is a major threat to these long-lived, vulnerable systems. Some DSCS communities, however, are afforded protection through fishing restrictions established by the PFMC. For example, the Groundfish Fishery Management Plan established a number of Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Areas that restrict the use of bottom-contact fishing gears. In 2018, PFMC adopted Amendment 28 to the Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (implemented January 2020) which closed additional areas to bottom contact fishing gears, and re-opened some previously restricted areas to better balance sustainable fishing and deep-sea habitat conservation. In addition, National Marine Sanctuaries (NMS) also protect DSCS habitats from seafloor disturbances such as those related to seabed construction, cable laying, and oil or gas drilling/extraction.
The United States is driven to meet increasing energy needs and support the nation’s blue economy through offshore wind infrastructure development. This and other blue economy initiatives with potential to impact the seafloor such as aquaculture, other types of renewable energy development, and deep-sea mining could threaten known and unknown DSCS ecosystems. Beyond physical disturbance from fishing gear and development, changes to environmental conditions as a result of climate change will likely have ubiquitous impacts on deep-sea communities across the globe.
One of the largest challenges facing resource managers’ efforts to balance sustainable ocean use and deep-sea habitat conservation is the lack of high resolution seafloor mapping information and visual survey data across the US Exclusive Economic Zone. To prioritize filling these gaps the initiative began by forming a NOAA-led steering committee in 2018 with representatives from NOAA Fisheries Science Centers, Office of Habitat Conservation, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, and the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The steering committee hosted a Priority Scoping Workshop in Santa Barbara, California where three major research themes were established and codified in the subsequent WCDSCI Science Plan. Overall, those that attended in-person and virtually agreed that the initiative should aim to (1) gather baseline information from areas subject to fishing regulation changes prior to, and following, the implementation of Amendment 28 to the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan, (2) improve our understanding of known relatively high DSCS bycatch “hot spots,” and (3) explore and assess DSCS resources within NMS. Under consultation with the PFMC, the Science Plan outlined the potential partners, strategies and targeted field and data analysis projects to address the thematic foci identified in the workshop. Major components included large scale region-wide research cruises, as well as smaller scale targeted cruises, alongside mapping fieldwork, modeling, data rescue, data analysis, and genetics projects. An additional target in this initiative emphasized during the scoping workshop, included education and outreach product development.
Over the course of the initiative, three region-wide and several smaller scale research cruises were supported by WCDSCI. Two of the region-wide cruises advanced momentum initiated by the EXpanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems (EXPRESS) campaign, a cross federal agency (NOAA, BOEM, USGS) collaborative. As a result of the campaign, ship time, expertise, and other resources were leveraged to conduct 65 remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and 35 autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) surveys across 29 unique sites and collect hundreds of biological, geological, and seawater samples. Sites were prioritized in areas subject to fishing regulation changes implemented by Amendment 28, sanctuaries, areas with known high bycatch of DSCS, and offshore wind energy planning areas. Significant findings included the identification of coral and sponge gardens at Mendocino Ridge, observations that extended the known ranges of multiple deepwater corals (Primnoa pacifica and Stylaster parageus), and observations that preliminarily confirmed areas re-opened to bottom-contact fishing by the PFMC were generally depauperate of DSCS communities. Despite the unprecedented circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, one additional region-wide expedition occurred in 2020 on the Ocean Exploration Trust’s E/V Nautilus in partnership with NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and ONMS. Three expedition legs targeted visual surveys, collections, and telepresence-enabled outreach in one proposed and three existing West Coast sanctuaries. E/V Nautilus’ telepresence system allowed sanctuary scientists and EXPRESS partners to remotely guide 24/7 ROV operations, which resulted in significant discoveries including several new habitats with high densities of DSCS, further evidence of a petrale sole spawning area in a proposed sanctuary, and an unknown glass sponge reef within Channel Islands NMS.
Smaller-scale research cruises targeted sanctuary priorities within the Olympic Coast, Monterey, Greater Farallones, and Channel Islands NMS. Ranging from 6-11 days at sea, ROVs or a drop camera were deployed to conduct visual surveys of the seafloor to identify DSCS species, map their distributions, and inform sanctuary management decisions related to these vulnerable habitats. This data will contribute to sanctuary managers’ understanding of the distribution of resources within their boundaries, be incorporated into congressionally mandated condition reports, and support management plan updates and action plans.
The initiative also supported 12 associated studies. Referred to as small projects, these studies produced a variety of products and tools including: an online spatial prioritization tool to guide mapping, ROV/AUV site selection; the development of an image-based analysis of coral gardens; the acquisition and synthesis of seafloor mapping data across the West Coast; best practices for advanced habitat and distribution modeling of DSCS; a widely used targeted species collection list; a West Coast-wide identification guide for DSCS and fishes; advances in species identification, connectivity and environmental DNA (eDNA) studies; a comparative analysis of DSCS associations with groundfishes; annotated historical data sets; 3-dimensional photomosaics of DSCS habitats; an online geospatial learning portal for high school classrooms; and 3-dimensional printed models of DSCS specimens for sanctuary outreach kits. These studies are either completed or nearing completion despite encountering challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic involving the delay or cancellation of ship time, restricted access to laboratories, office spaces and samples.
WCDSCI showcased an unprecedented level of collaboration among federal agencies to which much of the success of the initiative is owed, particularly with respect to executing region-wide field missions and leveraging additional funding. Through EXPRESS, cross-agency partnerships were built upon a solid foundation of communication where data needs, priorities, and resources were regularly shared. This foundation was critical for efficiently mobilizing the relevant technology, expertise, and other resources to address the broad array of science and management objectives determined at the priority scoping workshop. Inspired by the level of success in 2021, an EXPRESS-like campaign launched in Alaska known as Seascape Alaska. Overall, data collected and analyzed with WCDSCI support will inform a number of high priority, multi agency management issues related to seafloor protections such as Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Areas, the development of offshore energy, the designation process and management of a new National Marine Sanctuary, and improved management of existing National Marine Sanctuaries. This initiative also focused resources on reaching a wide array of audiences in effort to connect people to these habitats that are remote and obscure, but important to the overall health of the ocean. From interactive, 3-dimensional digital models of DSCS species, to live streaming real time ROV footage, to serving freely available high school curricula, the initiative provided accessible and effective outreach that can build public awareness, interest, and support for DSCS ecosystems.