{"id":75982,"date":"2026-03-07T13:01:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T00:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/?p=75982"},"modified":"2026-03-09T08:11:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T19:11:43","slug":"revealed-scientists-discovery-of-ancient-deep-sea-corals-brings-new-hope-for-protection-against-threat-of-industrial-fishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/revealed-scientists-discovery-of-ancient-deep-sea-corals-brings-new-hope-for-protection-against-threat-of-industrial-fishing\/","title":{"rendered":"REVEALED: Scientists\u2019 discovery of ancient deep sea corals brings new hope for protection against threat of industrial fishing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New scientific research from Greenpeace<\/a> has uncovered ancient and fragile corals at a Lord Howe Rise seamount in the South Pacific, an area of huge ecological significance in the high seas that has never been surveyed before. <\/p>\n\n

This scientific discovery, from just one seamount on the Lord Howe Rise, has proven for the first time that the seamount is a vulnerable marine ecosystem. This new status should protect it from destructive bottom trawling, according to international rules intended to protect these fragile ecosystems. This discovery comes as bottom trawling was temporarily paused in the area in 2024, but threatens to make a return.<\/p>\n\n

The scientists catalogued a total of 350 corals, sponges and other life forms in just a fraction of the Lord Howe Rise seamount – many of which are 100+ years old and some reaching almost 2 metres in height. Slow-growing and fragile, the corals include bamboo, golden, precious, stony, hydro and black, in addition to sponges, sea lilies and anemones. <\/p>\n\n

\"\"
Bamboo coral of the genus Iridogorgia.
This seamount has an elevation of 280m, summit depth of 920m and base at 1,200m.
Still taken from video footage.
\u00a9 Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Vulnerable marine ecosystems are fragile, rare, or complex marine habitats that are highly susceptible to irreparable damage from human activities.  Campaigners say this means that the area must be closed to damaging bottom trawling for good – widely considered to be the greatest threat to seamount ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n

Commenting, Greenpeace Aotearoa Ocean Campaigner Ellie Hooper who led the scientific expedition to Lord Howe Rise, says: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\u201cIt was moving and awe-inspiring to see these vibrant corals and fragile sponges streamed up from the deep, but right now they face an uncertain future. If this site is reopened, these ancient species could be destroyed by New Zealand bottom trawlers in the future. And this discovery is just a tiny snapshot of life in the area.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe New Zealand government must stop protecting the interests of industrial fishing companies and not attempt to reopen the area for bottom trawling. Every other nation has stopped this destructive practice in the region, are they not embarrassed to be the only ones left?<\/em><\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe are now armed with the proof we needed that bottom trawling must be banned here. It\u2019s clear that this is a vulnerable marine ecosystem so it\u2019s crucial we act now to protect this fragile life in the deep from destruction.\u201d  <\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"\"
Soft coral of the family Primnoidae up to 30cm tall.
This seamount has an elevation of 280m, summit depth of 920m and base at 1,200m.
\u00a9 Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Lord Howe Rise is of huge ecological significance, but despite this it remains under serious threat. Whilst the seamount surveyed was temporarily closed to bottom trawling in 2024 after a New Zealand trawler – the Tasman Viking<\/em> – dragged up 37kg of coral<\/a>, the New Zealand government could push to reopen that area to destructive bottom trawling, which could destroy the ancient corals and sponges scientists have documented there. <\/p>\n\n

The New Zealand government in early 2026 submitted a proposal<\/a> to increase the amount of coral and other vulnerable deep-sea species that can be trawled up as bycatch on the high seas without consequence. This proposal was submitted ahead of the annual meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation this week, with Greenpeace also submitting the findings from Lord Howe.  <\/p>\n\n

International resolutions state that vulnerable marine ecosystems should be protected from bottom trawling due to their fragility, ecosystem importance and slow recovery rate, making them incredibly vulnerable to this fishing method. <\/p>\n\n

The area is being considered for one of the world\u2019s first ocean sanctuaries under the Global Ocean Treaty, which came into force earlier this year. <\/p>\n\n

Notes to editors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

    \n
  1. The scientific evidence <\/a>has been submitted to the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) Commission 2026 which took place 2-6 March in Panama. This is where the New Zealand Government has also submitted their proposal<\/a> to increase the amount of coral and other vulnerable species that can be caught as bycatch.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. 350 examples of coral, sponges and deep sea life were cataloged (for clarity – note this is not 350 different species but rather 350 instances of deep sea taxa)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. The scientific analysis was conducted on a subset of footage recorded during deep-sea video surveys from the Greenpeace Seamounts Expedition in March 2025. The seamount is on the Central Lord Howe Rise, in international waters managed by the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO).  Of the 77 still images analysed to determine if they met the VME FAO Deep-sea Fisheries criteria 45% (33) were classified a VMEs. 59 individual deep-sea coral and sponge taxon have been aged by expert taxonomists at over 100+ years old, and some likely even 200+ years old,  based on their heights and published growth rates. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. International rules (UNGA Resolutions (61\/105 & 64\/72) mandate that vulnerable marine ecosystems should be protected from bottom trawling due to their fragility, ecosystem importance and slow recovery rate, making them incredibly vulnerable to this fishing method. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. United Nations Second World Ocean Assessment (2021) p439<\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n \t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPETITION: Create global ocean sanctuaries\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

    Call on the Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters to create new global ocean sanctuaries and protect our blue planet.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t \n Sign the petition\n <\/a>\n \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    New scientific research from Greenpeace has uncovered ancient and fragile corals at a Lord Howe Rise seamount in the South Pacific, an area of huge ecological significance in the high seas that has never been surveyed before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":75983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[25],"p4-page-type":[7],"class_list":["post-75982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-greenpeace","tag-oceans","p4-page-type-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nREVEALED: 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coral of the genus Iridogorgia. 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Still taken from video footage."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/revealed-scientists-discovery-of-ancient-deep-sea-corals-brings-new-hope-for-protection-against-threat-of-industrial-fishing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"REVEALED: Scientists\u2019 discovery of ancient deep sea corals brings new hope for protection against threat of industrial fishing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/","name":"Greenpeace Aotearoa","description":"Our mission is to ensure Earth\u2019s ability to nurture life in all its diversity.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#\/schema\/person\/fb3d622221a66ca39ba5f2391193385f","name":"Ellie Hooper","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b1c9265f72c5f84c02636320512f6f974385c869814d0b35d7aab1a3d8c8de41?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b1c9265f72c5f84c02636320512f6f974385c869814d0b35d7aab1a3d8c8de41?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Ellie Hooper"},"description":"Ellie Hooper is an oceans campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/author\/ehooper\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75982"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75991,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75982\/revisions\/75991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75982"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=75982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}