(Vancouver) It all started with information from the local First Nation about a “bump on the bottom of the sea” where fish liked to hang out. This led to the discovery of the only known living coral reef in Canada.
Deep-sea ecologist Cherisse Du Preez worked with the indigenous Kitasoo Finlayson Channel, approximately 500 km northwest of Vancouver, British Columbia.
On what was to be the final dive of the expedition, the team discovered a “beautiful and thriving” ecosystem about 200 meters deep.
“You turn on (the spotlights) and you realize you’re the first person to see all this: beautiful pinks and purples and yellows, crevices, mounds. And once you see beyond the corals, you realize there are other animals on there,” M said.me Du Preez, head of the deep water ecology program at Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
“Then you start to see the eels and octopuses or rock fish coming in and out (of the coral reef). And even when we point the camera upwards, we can see the schools of fish at the top. Everywhere you look, there is life. »
“All the science and logic in the world says there shouldn’t be a coral reef there, but the First Nations knew there was something there,” she said.
The Ministry of Fisheries announced last week that it had closed the area of British Columbia’s central coast above the coral reef to all commercial and recreational bottom-contact fishing, including pelagic trawling. .
The ministry said the indefinite closure was “based on an important scientific discovery” because “this area, although small, is a unique reef in the world that is very susceptible to damage, particularly by fishing gear.” fishing. “.
It is the northernmost known coral reef in the entire Pacific Ocean, specifies the ministry.
Important for the ecosystem
Mme Du Preez clearly remembers the excitement when his team first discovered the reef. “It’s quite remarkable to visit these places to get visuals and feel this paradox: it’s far away, it’s another world, but it’s our world,” she said.
Mike Reid, fisheries director for the Heiltsuk Nation’s Department of Integrated Resource Management, said his nation always knew something was supporting fish in the area, but didn’t know what exactly.
“Lophelia Reef is very important to the ecosystem, to the biodiversity of that specific area, it contributes to the overall health of that area,” Mr Reid said.
The reef provides habitat and refuge for marine wildlife, allowing the creation of colonies of fish and other creatures, M added.me Du Preez. “This coral reef has valleys and mounds […] mounds provide breeding grounds. So you have all the schools of small fish living and hiding from their predators.
“Then there are the big fish — we have species of particular concern and endangered species that use this coral reef for food, shelter and habitat,” the researcher said.
Mme Du Preez adds, however, that she has found dead corals around the reef, which could be due to climate change. “It’s a very big concern, and one of the reasons why it’s so important to stop fishing in this area is that we need to remove all the stress possible to give this reef the opportunity to survive changes we cannot control. »
A temperature change of one degree could be devastating for the reef, she said.
Leri Davies, spokesperson for the Pacific region at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, said fisheries officers from the Conservation and Protection Branch regularly patrol marine refuges, protected areas and closed areas for enforce the regulations.
“We use a variety of intelligence-driven enforcement methods, including aerial, ocean, river and land surveillance, as well as nighttime and covert patrols, to actively monitor fishing activities in all sectors and ensure compliance with laws.” , specified the ministry.
Mme Du Preez said Canada’s Pacific coast is “unique in the world”, with nature and wildlife found nowhere else.
This gives us the opportunity to have so much life in our deep sea and we are very lucky, she said.
“We are so spoiled on our coast with our seabed and I hope that through media like this, Canadians will begin to feel that the seabed is as Canadian as the Rockies. »