SAFMC Considers Reopening Protected Oculina Bank Coral Reef to Rock Shrimp Trawling Nets
Federal fishery managers once again are considering letting shrimpers drag trawling nets along a protected area of seafloor, which opponents say will destroy one of the most environmentally important and fragile deep-water coral reefs found nowhere else in the world.
The Oculina Bank Habitat Area, named after the slow-growing ivory tree coral Oculina varicosa, is a narrow strip of coral reef that runs from Flagler Beach to Fort Pierce. The reef is thousands of years old and habitat for species of grouper and snapper...
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