Source: Stuff.co.nz
Author: Andrea Vance
Vast fishing nets have hauled up 29 species of delicate coral from the still, dark depths of New Zealand’s oceans.
And conservationists are warning that the Government has abandoned protection of the sea bed in favour of expanding bottom trawling.
Of protected species dredged up by vessels in the last 18 months, 59 were deep sea corals. Photographs of the brightly coloured, fragile invertebrate animals were taken by fisheries observers after being retrieved from fishing nets. The photos were released under the Official Information Act.
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