Hawaii FEP - Western Pacific Fishery Council

juvenile and adult spiny lobster is designated as the bottom habitat from the shoreline to a depthof 100 meters throughout the Western Pacific Region. The EFH for deepwater shrimp eggs andlarvae is designated as the water column and associated outer reef slopes between 550 m and700m, and the EFH for juveniles and adults is designated as the outer reef slopes at depthsbetween 300-700 m (see Table 28).6.2.3 Precious CoralsIn the Hawaiian Islands, precious coral beds have been found only in the deep interislandchannels and off promontories at depths between 300 and 1,500 meters and 30 and 100 meters.There are currently eight known beds of pink, gold, and bamboo corals including Keahole Point,Makapuu, Kaena Point, Wespac, Brooks Bank, and 180 Fathom Bank; and two recentlydiscovered beds, one near French Frigate Shoals in the NWHI, and a second on Cross Seamount,approximately 150 nm south of Oahu. The approximate areas of six of these eight beds havebeen determined. These beds are small; only two of them have an area greater than 1 km 2 , andthe largest is 3.6 km 2 in size. The Ke‘ahole Bed off Hawaii’s Kona coast, however, issubstantially larger than originally thought. Scientists and industry are currently assessing itsactual size. Initial calculations appear to increase its size twenty-fold. There are also three knownmajor black coral beds in the Western Pacific Region, in addition to several minor beds (Grigg1998). Most of these are located in Hawaii’s state waters (0-3 nm). However the largest (theAuau Channel Bed) extends into federal waters.Makapuu is the only bed that has been surveyed accurately enough to estimate MSY. TheWespac bed, located between Necker and Nihoa Islands in the NWHI, has been set aside for usein baseline studies and as a possible reproductive reserve. The harvesting of precious corals isprohibited in this area. Within the Western Pacific Region, the only directed fishery for preciouscorals has occurred in the Hawaiian Islands. At present, there is no commercial harvesting ofprecious corals in the EEZ, but several firms have expressed interest.Precious corals may be divided into deep- and shallow-water species. Deep-water precious coralsare generally found between 350 and 1,500 meters and include pink coral (Corallium secundum),gold coral (Gerardia spp. and Parazoanthus spp.), and bamboo coral (Lepidisis olapa). Shallowwaterspecies occur between 30 and 100 meters and consist primarily of three species of blackcoral: Antipathes dichotoma, Antipathes grandis, and Antipathes ulex. In Hawaii, Antipathesdichotoma accounts for around 90 percent of the commercial harvest of black coral, and virtuallyall of it is harvested in state waters.Precious corals are non–reef building and inhabit depth zones below the euphotic zone. They arefound on solid substrate in areas that are swept relatively clean by moderate-to-strong (> 25cm/sec) bottom currents. Strong currents help prevent the accumulation of sediments, whichwould smother young coral colonies and prevent settlement of new larvae. Precious coral yieldstend to be higher in areas of shell sandstone, limestone, and basaltic or metamorphic rock with alimestone veneer.Black corals are most frequently found under vertical drop-offs. Such features are common offKauai and Maui in the MHI, suggesting that their abundance is related to suitable habitat (Grigg180