Before this year is out, four exciting cruises will take place to explore the deepwater coral reefs of the Southeast. In fact, scientists are off Florida right now with deep-diving submersibles working to understand the newly discovered reefs that will be protected by the South Atlantic Council in September.
Among the neatest science coming during these cruises is the recovery of a “benthic lander” that has been studying deepwater corals in the Gulf for the past year, and then its redeployment off North Carolina this December. It is fascinating that it has taken 40 years — nearly exactly! — to achieve in the deep sea, right in our backyard, what American scientists did on the moon with a lunar lander, way back in 1969!
If you liked National Geographic’s “Drain the Ocean,” you’ll love the reports from these cruises, hot off the ship.
Since 1998, EDF Senior Scientist 
Community Fishing Associations are a good idea. It might surprise you to hear that from Environmental Defense Fund. 
Although corals from deepwaters of the U.S. Southeast were first reported way back in the 1880’s, more than a century passed before research revealed the breathtaking scale of the deepwater coral reef ecosystems in the region. 
These reefs are home to tremendous biological diversity, including many species new to science, and including species of potential economic value, both for fishing and for pharmaceutical prospecting. Individual colonies may be thousands of years old, and some mounds likely exceed a million years in age, creating a record of changing conditions in the deep ocean.
As the New England groundfish fishery moves to “sector” management (fishing cooperative-based catch shares), it’s good to get the perspective of someone with nearly a half-century of fishing experience.