The Rost Reef ( no, Røstrevet) is a

deep-water coral The habitat of deep-water corals, also known as cold-water corals, extends to deeper, darker parts of the oceans than tropical corals, ranging from near the surface to the abyss, beyond where water temperatures may be as cold as . Deep-water cor ...

reef off the coast of the

Lofoten Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolvær ...

islands in

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The reef was discovered in 2002, about west of the island of

Røstlandet Røstlandet is an island in Røst Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The island makes up the majority of the land of the municipality and is home to most of its residents. The island is very low and marshy, with the highest point on the ...

. It extends over a length of about , and has a width of up to . The reef is generated by the coral ''

Lophelia pertusa ''Lophelia pertusa'', the only species in the genus ''Lophelia'', is a cold-water coral that grows in the deep waters throughout the North Atlantic ocean, as well as parts of the Caribbean Sea and Alboran Sea. Although ''L. pertusa'' reefs are ...

'', and is the world's largest known ''

Lophelia ''Lophelia pertusa'', the only species in the genus ''Lophelia'', is a cold-water coral that grows in the deep waters throughout the North Atlantic ocean, as well as parts of the Caribbean Sea and Alboran Sea. Although ''L. pertusa'' reefs are ho ...

'' reef. It is also the world's largest known deep-water coral reef. The authorities have introduced regulations to protect the reef against

trawling Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net used for trawling is called a trawl. This principle requires netting bags which are towed through water to catch different speci ...

. The temperature of the waters near the bottom of the Rost coral reef is 2 °C. WWF recognises the Røst Reef as a global natural heritage that merits protection through

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 ...

(MPA) status.

Flora and fauna

The reef is generated by the coral ''

'', and it hosts a profuse marine population that ranges from

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

is associated with

anemones ''Anemone'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family (biology), family Ranunculaceae. Plants of the genus are commonly called windflowers. They are Native plant, native to the Temperate climate, temperate and Subtropics, subtrop ...

, jellyfish and other animals.

are

filter feeder Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feedin ...

s and get all their energy by collecting separate

from water that flows along deep water currents.The

coral provides a habitat for many kinds of

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s and

es. Røst reef is a habitat for

s like

worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city **Worms (electoral district) *Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertainme ...

starfish Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish ...

, and

lobster Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs ...

s, as well as

vertebrate Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...

s like fishes, that depend on deep-sea corals. The corals offer food, places to hide from

predators Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...

, nurseries, and a solid surface. Studies performed by the Institute of Marine Research at Storegga,

, have shown a significantly higher density of tusk (Brosme brosme) and redfish (Sebastes marinus) in

areas as compared to the surrounding

seabed The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as 'seabeds'. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...

Human impact

Only a very small portion of the Røst Reef has been inspected. The observations indicate that the reef is largely intact. A significant number of entangled lines and nets were observed on the reef during video inspection. According to information from the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, nets and lines are the most common fishing equipment used on and around the Røst Reef.

Trawling Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net used for trawling is called a trawl. This principle requires netting bags which are towed through water to catch different speci ...

activities take place both in the northern and southern parts of the coral area, and to a lesser extent east of the coral area. A potential threat towards the Røst Reef that may occur in the future is oil and gas development in the vicinity of the reef. The Røst Reef lies within the so-called "Nordland VI” petroleum block, which is regarded as a promising field by oil and gas companies. No licences were granted in this block during the latest licensing round as the Norwegian Ministry of Oil and Energy felt a need for more information before allowing further petroleum activities in this area, including possible measures to protect coral reefs. In general, little is known about the impacts of oil and gas exploration on Lophelia colonies. Infrastructure development may lead to physical destruction of reefs and stress due to increased sedimentation. Discharges related to drilling and production ( drilling muds and

produced water Produced water is a term used in the oil industry or geothermal industry to describe water that is produced as a byproduct during the extraction of Petroleum, oil and natural gas, or used as a medium for heat extraction. Produced water is the kind ...

) contain substances known to affect other

marine organisms Marine life, sea life, or ocean life is the aquatic plant, plants, aquatic animal, animals and other organisms that live in the seawater, salt water of seas or oceans, or the brackish water of coastal estuary, estuaries. At a fundamental leve ...

negatively. Until the long-term impacts of these discharges on

have been determined, no such discharges will be allowed near the Røst Reef.

Protection of the reef

To protect the Røst Reef from damaging fishery activities, a proposal to amend the 1999 Coral Regulation is being considered by the

Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs ( no, Fiskeri- og kystdepartementet) was a Norwegian ministry responsible for fisheries industry, aquaculture industry, seafood safety, fish health and welfare, harbours, water transport ...

. With this amendment, the Røst Reef and a 5 km zone on all sides will be protected from all fishing using equipment that may touch the bottom. While this is certainly a wise and valuable step towards the protection of this unique natural feature, according to the information from the

Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries ( no, Fiskeridirektoratet) is a Norwegian government agency. On 1 January 2014 it was incorporated into the new Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries formerly under the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal ...

the reef is still unprotected from the potential impacts of

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

activities. WWF proposes the establishment of a zone in which

activities in the Røst area will be prohibited. This zone should encompass the reef, the seabird colonies at

and their feeding ground as well as the important fish spawning grounds between Røst Island and the reef. Th
Norwegian Nature Conservation Act
does not apply beyond

territorial waters The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potenti ...

. It is not possible, therefore, to protect the Røst Reef as a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rost Reef Landforms of Nordland Coral reefs Reefs of Norway Lofoten

Flora and fauna

Human impact

Protection of the reef

See also

References