The Experimental Oculina Research Reserve preserves the Oculina Banks, a reef of

ivory bush coral ''Oculina varicosa'', or the ivory bush coral, is a scleractinian deep-water coral primarily found at depths of 70-100m, and ranges from Bermuda and Cape Hatteras to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. ''Oculina varicosa'' flourishes at the Ex ...

(''Oculina varicosa'') off the coast of

Fort Pierce, Florida Fort Pierce is a city in and the county seat of St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Treasure Coast region of Atlantic Coast Florida. It is also known as the Sunrise City, sister to San Francisco, California, the Suns ...

. ''Oculina varicosa'' is a U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service species of concern. Species of concern are those species about which the U.S. Government's

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

(NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service, has some concerns regarding status and threats, but for which insufficient information is available to indicate a need to list the species under the U.S
Endangered Species Act
(ESA).

Location

In 1984, a 92 square-nautical-mile (316 km²) portion of these reefs was designated the Oculina Habitat Area of Particular Concern. In 1994, the area was closed to all manner of bottom fishing and was redesignated a research reserve. In 2000, the

marine protected area Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conserv ...

was expanded to 300 square nautical miles (1,030 km²) and prohibited all gears that caused mechanical disruption to the habitat.

Conservation

Commercial and recreational harvesters heavily exploited reef fish, such as grouper and snapper, prior to the establishment of the reserve, and extensive areas of ivory bush coral habitat had been reduced to rubble by trawling or dredging, with few or no living coral colonies remaining in sections of the bank. Reef fish populations in the impacted areas have become sparse. The reserve is now undergoing

habitat restoration Restoration ecology is the scientific study supporting the practice of ecological restoration, which is the practice of renewing and restoring degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats in the environment by active human interrupt ...

projects.

References

External links

A Particular Concern: Protecting Deep-Sea Corals

* ttp://oceanica.cofc.edu/Oculina2003/home.htm Oculina Coral Banks 2002
Oculina Coral Banks 2003

Fort Pierce, Florida Marine reserves of the United States Nature reserves in Florida Protected areas of St. Lucie County, Florida 1994 establishments in Florida Protected areas established in 1994 {{StLucieCountyFL-geo-stub