ASSOCIATED PRESS • June 22, 2021
Federal regulators have signed off on new protections for thousands of square miles of deep-sea corals off New England. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday it has approved a final rule that designates the coral protection areas on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine. The protected zone places prohibitions on bottom-tending commercial fishing gear, with the exception of certain kinds of crab traps, NOAA officials said. It also creates a dedicated habitat research area called the Jordan Basin Dedicated Habitat Research Area south of the Maine coast.