tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/deep-sea-fishing-10099/articlesDeep sea fishing – The Conversation2023-04-04T20:20:35Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2032312023-04-04T20:20:35Z2023-04-04T20:20:35ZMonsters or masters of the deep sea? Why the deepest of deep-sea fish aren’t as scary as you might think<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519199/original/file-20230404-14-lonkuu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=411%2C425%2C1506%2C652&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.uwa.edu.au/news/Article/2023/April/Scientists-break-new-record-after-finding-worlds-deepest-fish">Caladan Oceanic</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>How deep can fish live in the ocean? That question has captivated me for more than a decade. But my research team’s discovery of the <a href="https://www.uwa.edu.au/news/Article/2023/April/Scientists-break-new-record-after-finding-worlds-deepest-fish">deepest sea fish</a>, announced this week, might not be the final answer. There may be more. How deep – and how strange – remains open for debate.</p>
<p>Last year, my colleagues and I went on an expedition to the deep trenches around Japan. Having already found the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-found-worlds-deepest-fish-in-the-mariana-trench-and-why-we-must-keep-exploring-35743">Mariana snailfish</a> in 2014 – thought to be the deepest ever – we had a hunch that with more exploration and a better understanding of things like temperature, the Japanese trenches would host a fish at even greater depths. </p>
<p>After another 63 deployments of our deep-sea cameras, bringing our total to about 250 across the globe, we hit the jackpot.</p>
<p>We found what is likely a new species of fish in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench and filmed it many times at depths between 6,500 and 8,000 metres. Then, at a staggering 8,336m, a rather unassuming little juvenile slowly swam past the camera, oblivious to the fact it had just become the <a href="https://www.uwa.edu.au/news/Article/2023/April/Scientists-break-new-record-after-finding-worlds-deepest-fish">deepest fish on record</a>. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers near Japan capture footage of deepest fish ever recorded underwater (The Guardian)</span></figcaption>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ten-things-you-never-knew-about-the-oceans-deepest-places-55172">Ten things you never knew about the ocean’s deepest places</a>
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<h2>Much more than monsters</h2>
<p>If you ask someone what the deepest fish in the world looks like, they will probably conjure up an image of a scaly, black, stealthy creature with bioluminescent lures, large fangs, spiny fins and demonic eyes lurking in the depths waiting to strike at unsuspecting victims. It would be nothing like the shallow-water fish we eat, keep as pets, or pay to see in aquariums. It would be more the stuff of nightmares.</p>
<p>While these sorts of visually striking creatures do exist, they are often not that deep, or that big. Hatchet fish, fangtooth, lanternfish, dragonfish, viperfish and angler fish inhabit the mid-waters of the twilight zone (less than 1,000m deep). Many of these classically spooky monsters are actually very small and are simply enlarged in our imagination, in the absence of any sense of physical scale.</p>
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<img alt="Side profile of the deep ocean Sloane viperfish (Chauliodus sloani)" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519205/original/file-20230404-20-7n3dx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519205/original/file-20230404-20-7n3dx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519205/original/file-20230404-20-7n3dx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519205/original/file-20230404-20-7n3dx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519205/original/file-20230404-20-7n3dx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519205/original/file-20230404-20-7n3dx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519205/original/file-20230404-20-7n3dx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Sloane’s Viperfish is one of the most recognizable deep sea fishes with its long fang-like teeth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sloane-viperfish-chauliodus-sloani-deep-ocean-2257607267">Diego Grandi/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The black body, big eyes, bioluminescent lures and unfamiliar fins and textures are all adaptations to stealthy but efficient living in low-light conditions. </p>
<p>At deeper levels, where low-light adaptations are no longer required (because there’s a total absence of light), marine life takes on different, less dramatic forms. Adaptations to depth, or rather high pressure, are not usually things we can see, but rather changes at the level of cells or body tissues, to enable life at depth. </p>
<p>If we take, for example, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/snailfish-how-we-found-a-new-species-in-one-of-the-oceans-deepest-places-103003">deepest fish</a>, the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcb/article/41/1/ruaa102/6128500?login=true">deepest prawn</a>, the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00227-023-04177-5">deepest jellyfish</a>, the deepest anemone and the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00227-020-03701-1">deepest octopus</a>, we find them at depths of 8,336m, 7,703m, 10,000m, 10,900m and 7,000m, respectively (between 4.3 and 6.8 miles deep).</p>
<h2>The deepest of the deep</h2>
<p>The deepest fish in the world isn’t really a deep-sea fish. They are snailfish in the family of ray-finned fishes called Liparidae. There are more than 400 species of snailfish, and most are found in shallow waters, or even estuaries in some cases. This family of fish has adapted to an array of different environmental settings and habitats, including the deepest. </p>
<p>We found the deepest of all in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench at 8,336m, but this fish does not conform to any preconceived visual impression of what the deepest dweller should look like. They are in fact small, translucent pink, quirky little fish that swim like tadpoles and would not look out of place in a sunlit lagoon. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519202/original/file-20230404-20-m322pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two deep-sea snailfish specimens, like pink tadpoles, resting on a dark grey background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519202/original/file-20230404-20-m322pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519202/original/file-20230404-20-m322pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519202/original/file-20230404-20-m322pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519202/original/file-20230404-20-m322pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519202/original/file-20230404-20-m322pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519202/original/file-20230404-20-m322pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519202/original/file-20230404-20-m322pa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">These two specimens are the deepest fish ever caught, recovered from a depth of 8022m in the Japan trench.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alan Jamieson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Similarly, if we look at the deepest of the big crustaceans, which happen to be penaeid prawns (<em>Benthesicymus</em>), there is nothing all that unfamiliar about them. The can be up to a foot long, strikingly red in colour, and swim and behave in exactly the way one would expect a prawn to swim and behave in our coastal regions. It would not look out of place at the local fish market.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/deep-sea-reefs-are-spectacular-and-barely-explored-they-must-be-conserved-197566">Deep sea reefs are spectacular and barely-explored – they must be conserved</a>
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<p>The deepest jellyfish looks like a normal jellyfish. The deepest anemones can be found attached to rocks at the very bottom of the Challenger Deep, the deepest place on Earth. These as yet unknown species are attached to rocks that filter food out of the water. They appear more plant-like, resembling delicate and beautiful flowers swaying in the wind. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519206/original/file-20230404-22-bko7fm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two deep-sea images of the white anemone that resembles delicate and beautiful flowers swaying in the wind" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519206/original/file-20230404-22-bko7fm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519206/original/file-20230404-22-bko7fm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519206/original/file-20230404-22-bko7fm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519206/original/file-20230404-22-bko7fm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519206/original/file-20230404-22-bko7fm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519206/original/file-20230404-22-bko7fm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519206/original/file-20230404-22-bko7fm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Like delicate flowers from an underwater garden at the deepest place on Earth, the deepest anemones.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Caladan Oceanic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>And then there is the octopus, an animal that has haunted sailors for centuries. In contrast, the newly discovered species of Dumbo octopus (<em>Grimpoteuthis</em>) is a small and cute little cephalopod with fins that resemble big ears (as in Dumbo the elephant). The species was filmed nearly 2,000 metres deeper than any other octopus or squid at a depth of nearly 7,000m.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OX7w5EcDX9o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A guide to the Dumbo octopus, from Deep Marine Scenes.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The true masters</h2>
<p>Essentially, dark-sea creatures in the upper ocean detract from the real deep-sea creatures, giving us a false impression of the natural aesthetic of this community. </p>
<p>While the dark-sea animals have adapted to low light in a way that jars our imagination, the true deep-sea animals represent more of a case of where the wild things aren’t. </p>
<p>The snailfish are the true masters of the deep, not monsters of the deep. If we are to ever truly understand the ocean, and appreciate it as the largest habitat on Earth, we should retrain our brains and realise that even thousands of metres underwater, there are populations of little fish just going about their daily business.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519207/original/file-20230404-16-9ynrlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A still image from deep sea video footage showing an octopus, snailfish and a prawn PLEASE CHECK approaching the fish food lure" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519207/original/file-20230404-16-9ynrlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519207/original/file-20230404-16-9ynrlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519207/original/file-20230404-16-9ynrlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519207/original/file-20230404-16-9ynrlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519207/original/file-20230404-16-9ynrlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519207/original/file-20230404-16-9ynrlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519207/original/file-20230404-16-9ynrlj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Coming for dinner, an octopus, two cusk eels and a prawn approaching one of the deep-sea cameras.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Caladan Oceanic</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ocean-is-not-a-quiet-place-184543">The ocean is not a quiet place</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203231/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Jamieson receives funding from the Minderoo Foundation. </span></em></p>The discovery of the deepest fish in a Japanese trench raises the question, what else is out there? But before the mind leaps to all things dark and spooky, take a fresh look at life in the deep sea.Alan Jamieson, Founding Professor of the Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research centre, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/799242017-06-25T20:05:25Z2017-06-25T20:05:25ZSludge, snags, and surreal animals: life aboard a voyage to study the abyss<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175349/original/file-20170623-29738-17uu1u7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The famous "faceless fish", which garnered worldwide headlines when it was collected by the expedition.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob Zugaro</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past five weeks I led a “<a href="https://www.nespmarine.edu.au/abyss-landing-%20page">voyage of discovery</a>”. That sounds rather pretentious in the 21st century, but it’s still true. My team, aboard the CSIRO managed research vessel, the <a href="http://www.csiro.au/RV-Investigator-virtual-tour/rv_investigator.html">Investigator</a>, has mapped and sampled an area of the planet that has never been surveyed before. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175343/original/file-20170623-27912-14vsgz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The RV Investigator in port.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jerome Mallefet/FNRS</span></span>
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<p>Bizarrely, our ship was only 100km off Australia’s east coast, in the middle of a busy shipping lane. But our focus was not on the sea surface, or on the migrating whales or skimming albatross. We were surveying The Abyss – the very bottom of the ocean some 4,000m below the waves.</p>
<p>To put that into perspective, the <a href="http://www.gnb.nsw.gov.au/place_naming/placename_search/extract?id=KWwGjzsETR">tallest mountain</a> on the Australian mainland is only 2,228m. Scuba divers are lucky to reach depths of 40m, while nuclear submarines dive to about 500m. We were aiming to put our cameras and sleds much, much deeper. Only since 2014, when the RV Investigator was commissioned, has Australia had the capacity to survey the deepest depths.</p>
<p>The months before the trip were frantic, with so much to organise: permits, freight, equipment, flights, medicals, legal agreements, safety procedures, visas, finance approvals, communication ideas, sampling strategies – all the tendrils of modern life (the thought “why am I doing this?” surfaced more than once). But remarkably, on May 15, we had 27 scientists from 14 institutions and seven countries, 11 technical specialists, and 22 crew converging on Launceston, and we were off.</p>
<h2>Rough seas</h2>
<p>Life at sea takes some adjustment. You work 12-hour shifts every day, from 2 o’clock to 2 o’clock, so it’s like suffering from jetlag. The ship was very stable, but even so the motion causes seasickness for the first few days. You sway down corridors, you have one-handed showers, and you feel as though you will be tipped out of bed. Many people go off coffee. The ship is “dry”, so there’s no well-earned beer at the end of a hard day. You wait days for bad weather to clear and then suddenly you are shovelling tonnes of mud through sieves in the middle of the night as you process samples dredged from the deep.</p>
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<span class="caption">Shifting through the mud of the abyss on the back deck.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jerome Mallefet/FNRS</span></span>
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<p>Surveying the abyss turns out to be far from easy. On our very first deployment off the eastern Tasmanian coast, our net was shredded on a rock at 2,500m, the positional beacon was lost, tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of gear gone. It was no one’s fault; the offending rock was too small to pick up on our <a href="http://mnf.csiro.au/Vessel/Investigator-2014/Equipment/Marine-acoustics-seafloor-mapping-and-fisheries-acoustics.aspx">multibeam sonar</a>. Only day 1 and a new plan was required. Talented people fixed what they could, and we moved on.</p>
<p>I was truly surprised by the ruggedness of the seafloor. From the existing maps, I was expecting a gentle slope and muddy abyssal plain. Instead, our sonar revealed canyons, ridges, cliffs and massive rock slides – amazing, but a bit of a hindrance to my naive sampling plan.</p>
<p>But soon the marine animals began to emerge from our videos and samples, which made it all worthwhile. Life started to buzz on the ship. </p>
<h2>Secrets of the deep</h2>
<p>Like many people, scientists spend most of their working lives in front of a computer screen. It is really great to get out and actually experience the real thing, to see animals we have only read about in old books. The tripod fish, the <a href="https://www.nespmarine.edu.au/faceless-fish-looks-happier-and-heartier-it-did-1887">faceless fish</a>, the shortarse feeler fish (yes, really), red spiny crabs, worms and sea stars of all shapes and sizes, as well as animals that <a href="https://www.nespmarine.edu.au/beam-us-j%C3%A9r%C3%B4me">emit light</a> to ward off predators.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175329/original/file-20170623-27895-pqfrw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A spiny red lithodid crab.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob Zugaro/Museums Victoria</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175333/original/file-20170623-21202-i5u60t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The tripod fish uses its long spines to sit on the seafloor waiting for the next meal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob Zugaro/Museums Victoria</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The level of public interest has been phenomenal. You may already have seen <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-30/researchers-drag-faceless-fish-up-from-the-abyss/8572634">some of the coverage</a>, which ranged from the <a href="http://www.npr.org/2017/06/15/533063615/explorers-probing-%20deep-sea-%20abyss-off-australias-coast-find-living-wonders">fascinated</a> to the amused – for some reason our discovery of <a href="http://mashable.com/2017/06/18/peanut-worm-looks-phallic/#GAkg8P.vh8qC">priapulid worms</a> was a big hit on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPgVtWDljcU">US late-night television</a>. In many ways all the publicity mirrored our first reactions to animals on the ship. “What is this thing?” “How amazing!”</p>
<p>The important scientific insights will come later. It will take a year or so to process all the data and accurately identify the samples. Describing all the new species will take even longer. All of the material has been carefully preserved and will be stored in museums and CSIRO collections around Australia for centuries. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175465/original/file-20170624-12633-l6b873.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scientists identifying microscopic animals onboard.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Asher Flatt</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On a voyage of discovery, video footage is not sufficient, because we don’t know the animals. The modern biologist uses high-resolution microscopes and DNA evidence to describe the new species and understand their place in the ecosystem, and that requires actual samples.</p>
<p>So why bother studying the deep sea? First, it is important to understand that humanity is already having an impact down there. The oceans are changing. There wasn’t a day at sea when we didn’t bring up some rubbish from the seafloor – cans, bottles, plastic, rope, fishing line. There is also old debris from steamships, such as unburned coal and bits of <a href="http://www.ehow.com/info_12152358_causes-clinkers-coal-fired-boilers.html">clinker</a>, which looks like melted rock, formed in the boilers. Elsewhere in the oceans there are plans to mine precious metals from the deep sea.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175340/original/file-20170623-9385-g1pbck.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rubbish found on the seafloor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob Zugaro/Museums Victoria</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, Australia is the custodian of a vast amount of abyss. Our marine <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/dimensions/oceans-and-seas#heading-1">exclusive economic zone (EEZ)</a> is larger than the Australian landmass. The Commonwealth recently established a <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/marine/marine-reserves">network of marine reserves</a> around Australia. Just like National Parks on land, these have been established to protect biodiversity in the long term. Australia’s <a href="https://www.nespmarine.edu.au/">Marine Biodiversity Hub</a>, which provided funds for this voyage, as been established by the Commonwealth Government to conduct research in the EEZ. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=266&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=266&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=266&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/175336/original/file-20170623-27895-1dazxfj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The newly mapped East Gippsland Commonwealth Marine Reserve, showing the rugged end of the Australian continental margin as it dips to the abyssal plain. The scale shows the depth in metres.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amy Nau/CSIRO</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our voyage mapped some of the marine reserves for the first time. Unlike parks on land, the reserves are not easy to visit. It was our aim to bring the animals of the Australian Abyss into public view.</p>
<p>We discovered that life in the deep sea is diverse and fascinating. Would I do it again? Sure I would. After a beer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79924/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim O'Hara receives research funding from the National Environmental Science Programme's Marine Biodiversity Hub. </span></em></p>Surveying the bottom of the ocean turns out to be far from easy. But there was something wonderful about seeing animals we have only read about in old books.Tim O'Hara, Senior Curator of Marine Invertebrates, Museums Victoria Research InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/493252015-10-30T05:30:16Z2015-10-30T05:30:16ZMeet the ghost sharks and deep-sea demons that will haunt your dreams<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100189/original/image-20151029-15318-cmd443.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Halloween kiss for this lovely ghost shark?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Bird</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sharks can be scary. But while most of us fear sharks such as the great white (not me, I’m fascinated by them), few are aware of what is lurking in even deeper waters. There, at depths of up to 3,000m, live the real monsters of the sea: elusive demon cat sharks, deep-sea dogfish and ghost sharks. </p>
<p>With weird teeth and evil eyes, they look like characters from a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000318/">Tim Burton</a> film. But perhaps the eeriest thing is the fact that we don’t know much about them.</p>
<h2>A good year for bizarre sharks</h2>
<p>To help shed light on these creatures of the dark, I took part in a research expedition this September on board the <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Topics/marine/science/scienceops/vessels-technology/vessels/scotia">Marine Research Vessel Scotia</a>, en-route to a deep area of water off the west coast of Scotland called Rockall Trough. The goal was to collect samples for a project to help uncover the movement and feeding behaviours of deep-sea sharks. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99345/original/image-20151022-7999-lttng4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99345/original/image-20151022-7999-lttng4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99345/original/image-20151022-7999-lttng4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99345/original/image-20151022-7999-lttng4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99345/original/image-20151022-7999-lttng4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99345/original/image-20151022-7999-lttng4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99345/original/image-20151022-7999-lttng4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Setting sun from starboard side.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Bird</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It was a busy two weeks of fishing between 500m and 2,000m and it would prove to be a challenging trip. Initial battles with seasickness, however, were quickly replaced with intrigue and excitement. Some of my colleagues had been working in the field for a long time, and consistently a creature would emerge that would ignite discussion. Luckily for me, it was an especially good year for bizarre sharks: four to five hauls a day, each with their own distinguishing oddities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100176/original/image-20151029-15342-1ob3kk3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100176/original/image-20151029-15342-1ob3kk3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100176/original/image-20151029-15342-1ob3kk3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100176/original/image-20151029-15342-1ob3kk3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100176/original/image-20151029-15342-1ob3kk3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100176/original/image-20151029-15342-1ob3kk3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100176/original/image-20151029-15342-1ob3kk3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100176/original/image-20151029-15342-1ob3kk3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Eerie demon shark.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Bird</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most of you will probably never have seen any deep-water sharks. Until about two years ago, neither had I. But even though they are obscured by thousands of metres of what might seem impenetrable dark, these are a group of hugely diverse and successful sharks. It is clear to see how many of these bizarre fish attained their ghoulish names. </p>
<p>The inaccessibility of the ocean depths has limited our scientific understanding of these creatures, a mystery that only strengthens their abstruse biology. I hope my research will pick away at that.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99344/original/image-20151022-7995-vh07dc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99344/original/image-20151022-7995-vh07dc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99344/original/image-20151022-7995-vh07dc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99344/original/image-20151022-7995-vh07dc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99344/original/image-20151022-7995-vh07dc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99344/original/image-20151022-7995-vh07dc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99344/original/image-20151022-7995-vh07dc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Collection of smalleye catsharks (Apristurs microps)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Bird</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The deep-sea sharks can loosely be split into three groups; the dogfish (<a href="http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/shark_profiles/squaliformes.htm">Squaliformes</a>) the demon catsharks (<a href="http://www.sharksinfo.com/carcharhiniformes.html">Carcharhiniformes</a>) and the ghost sharks (<a href="http://www.nhptv.org/wild/chimaeriformes.asp">Chimeariformes</a>). While the catsharks and dogfish are true sharks, ghost sharks belong to a group called the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/animal/chimaera">chimaera</a>, cartilaginous fishes closely related to sharks.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100186/original/image-20151029-15342-gz062t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100186/original/image-20151029-15342-gz062t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100186/original/image-20151029-15342-gz062t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100186/original/image-20151029-15342-gz062t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100186/original/image-20151029-15342-gz062t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100186/original/image-20151029-15342-gz062t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100186/original/image-20151029-15342-gz062t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100186/original/image-20151029-15342-gz062t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Demon face.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Bird</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of the catsharks, the most abundant family found in these Scottish waters were the demon/ghost catsharks, <a href="https://www.sharktrust.org/shared/downloads/factsheets/demon_catsharks_st_factsheet.pdf">Apristurus</a>. These creatures have slender bodies topped with flattened demonic heads and slit eyes that give resonance to their name. They are particularly difficult to identify and even during this trip we came across a species that we couldn’t find in any books. We barely have a grasp on how many species there may be in this group, let alone their biology and ecology. We think they eat mainly shrimp in this area but apart from that, we are still very much in the dark.</p>
<p>Dogfish tend to be stockier sharks, with sandpaper-like skin, large eyes and jaws lined with rows of specialised teeth. Ranging from the small, 30cm-long, glow-in-the-dark lantern sharks (Etmopteridae), to the 1.5m leafscale gulper sharks (Centrophoridae), we found truly amazing diversity in these waters. These sharks appear to feed on a wide range of food items, from scavenged whale carcasses to small mid-water fish and shrimp. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99346/original/image-20151022-8006-zjqjch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99346/original/image-20151022-8006-zjqjch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99346/original/image-20151022-8006-zjqjch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99346/original/image-20151022-8006-zjqjch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99346/original/image-20151022-8006-zjqjch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99346/original/image-20151022-8006-zjqjch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99346/original/image-20151022-8006-zjqjch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Portuguese dogfish (Centroscymnus coelolepis)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Bird</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Just to add to the creepiness, there were even gruesome <a href="https://sharkdevocean.wordpress.com/2015/10/23/shark-eating-barnacles/">parasitic barnacles</a> that can gorge on the sharks’ flesh.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100181/original/image-20151029-15351-23ql26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100181/original/image-20151029-15351-23ql26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100181/original/image-20151029-15351-23ql26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100181/original/image-20151029-15351-23ql26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100181/original/image-20151029-15351-23ql26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100181/original/image-20151029-15351-23ql26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100181/original/image-20151029-15351-23ql26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Barnacles in the eye of the deep-sea black dogfish.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Bird</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I had only seen images of ghost sharks before the trip and their unearthly appearance consistently baffled me. Huge patchwork heads encase rodent-like teeth, and with their odd, slime-ridden bodies, Salvador Dali would have struggled to conjure up this fish. Ranging from the longnose spookfish (Hariotta raleighana) to the massive pale ghost shark (Hydrolagus pallidus), these chimeara are largely bottom feeding, sucking small animals up from the sea floor. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99348/original/image-20151022-7995-1p7udu2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99348/original/image-20151022-7995-1p7udu2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99348/original/image-20151022-7995-1p7udu2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99348/original/image-20151022-7995-1p7udu2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=306&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99348/original/image-20151022-7995-1p7udu2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99348/original/image-20151022-7995-1p7udu2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99348/original/image-20151022-7995-1p7udu2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chimaera opalescens.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Bird</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The real horror: an ecosystem in peril</h2>
<p>These alien-looking creatures actually make up a large proportion of the fish that we find in the deepest waters. In fact, about <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967064513003226">half of all the sharks we currently know live there </a>. In addition to the ghost and demon sharks, we also found a <a href="https://sharkdevocean.wordpress.com/2015/10/07/sofas-and-sailbacks-rare-sharks-caught-off-scotland/">2.5m sofa shark (Pseudotriakis microdon)</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99349/original/image-20151022-8024-1s8fqhc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99349/original/image-20151022-8024-1s8fqhc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99349/original/image-20151022-8024-1s8fqhc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99349/original/image-20151022-8024-1s8fqhc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99349/original/image-20151022-8024-1s8fqhc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99349/original/image-20151022-8024-1s8fqhc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99349/original/image-20151022-8024-1s8fqhc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">False catshark (Pseudotriakis microdon)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Bird</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While appearances may horrify some, it is human activities that are creating a real-life horror story for these sharks. Deepening fisheries, mineral extraction and pollution <a href="http://www.savethehighseas.org/theproblem/">all now pose a threat to deep-sea ecosystems</a>. With exceptionally slow growth rates, high longevity and low reproductive rates, many deep-sea fish populations are struggling to compete with increasing intrusions. </p>
<p>Without knowledge of their basic biology or movement and feeding behaviours, it is difficult to assess how they will be affected by these continued disturbances. They may not be the most charismatic of animals but they fulfil a <a href="http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/3941/2014/bg-11-3941-2014.pdf">valuable role</a>, <a href="http://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2014/06/04-deep-sea-fish-remove-one-million-tonnes-of-co2.page">storing atmospheric carbon dioxide</a> and providing food for fisheries.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99347/original/image-20151022-8010-1be87xq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99347/original/image-20151022-8010-1be87xq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99347/original/image-20151022-8010-1be87xq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99347/original/image-20151022-8010-1be87xq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99347/original/image-20151022-8010-1be87xq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99347/original/image-20151022-8010-1be87xq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99347/original/image-20151022-8010-1be87xq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Longnose velvet dogfish neonate (Centroselachus crepidater)</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christopher Bird</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unfortunately, without appropriate management measures, these ghosts and demons of the deep soon could become no more than myths and legends.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49325/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Bird does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Click if you dare…Christopher Bird, Ph.D student: Deep-sea shark ecology, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/487632015-10-12T09:12:16Z2015-10-12T09:12:16ZEvidence says it’s time for a depth limit on trawling<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97580/original/image-20151007-7371-rt45g8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Maurice McDonald / PA Archive</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>On September 28, The Conversation published an article: “<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-fall-for-the-deep-sea-scaremongers-wild-fishing-is-healthy-and-sustainable-47021">Don’t fall for the deep-sea scaremongers – wild fishing is healthy and sustainable</a>” by Magnus Johnson, a senior lecturer in Environmental Marine Biology at the University of Hull. The article criticised <a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_417882_en.html">a paper</a> by marine biologists at the University of Glasgow and Marine Science Scotland on the regulation of deep-sea fishing. The lead authors of the study, David Bailey and Francis Neat, respond here.</em></p>
<p>Since publishing our study on “<a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_417882_en.html">A scientific basis for regulation deep-sea fishing by depth</a>” we’ve been subjected to criticism online and in print from fisheries organisations and most recently on this website in an article by Magnus Johnson. Johnson makes general points about the benefits of sustainable fisheries, that we agree with, but his specific critique of our work falls well wide of the mark.</p>
<p>Our work suggests that stopping deep-sea trawling at a depth of around 600m makes sense, because deeper than this the proportions of total and <a href="http://marinelife.about.com/od/glossary/g/elasmobranch.htm">elasmobranch bycatch species</a> (sharks and rays) in the assemblage increase significantly. At the same time indices of <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822%2815%2900938-0.pdf">biodiversity are still increasing and the value of the species present falls</a>. </p>
<p>Fisheries leaders and the author of the article claim that our study, being based on research survey data, is not representative of the effects of commercial fishing and, because <a href="http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/26296/research-claims-to-backs-up-eu-deeper-trawling-ban/">bycatch is a “nuisance”</a>, fishermen are able to avoid it. But what does the actual evidence say for deep-sea trawling? Our previous work showed that deep-sea fishing is unselective in its impacts on deep-sea fish. Unusually for a fishery, we were able to compare before and after deep-sea fishing in an area off Ireland. Fish numbers were cut in half in less than 20 years – and non-target species were just as likely to be depleted as targets. Any fish species whose depth range reached into the fishing grounds <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2009/03/06/rspb.2009.0098.short">was affected</a>. </p>
<p>As for the selectivity of recent catches, <a href="http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00226/33744/">a collaborative project</a> between the French fishing company SCAPECHE and the French government research organisation IFREMER looked at the options for being selective through changes to gear and by identifying areas of high discarding which could be avoided. They had little success in this endeavour. The modified trial gears caught as much bycatch as the normal gear and the authors dismissed as unfeasible the sort of work required to design the highly-selective gears used in shallow fisheries. There was little spatial pattern in most elasmobranch bycatch species, so no feasible avoidance strategy was possible for these species. The authors concluded that a depth-based avoidance strategy was as likely to succeed as other more complex spatial measures. </p>
<p>For now at least there is little evidence that deep-sea trawling is highly selective. As a result, any method that shows trends in what species were available to be hit by the trawls would provide a fair representation of the trends in impact of commercial fishing at different depths. Remember, it is the trends with depth that are the issue, not whether one net catches more than another. To disprove our study our critics would need to show that not only is commercial fishing very much more selective than surveys, but that they get relatively more selective with depth. Neither Johnson nor our other critics has provided any evidence for this.</p>
<p>Johnson further argues that our study was flawed because we failed to analyse any effect of time over the period of the study. Actually we have already done temporal studies in both the Irish and Scottish datasets that indicate following <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2009/03/06/rspb.2009.0098">the initial depletion of stocks</a>, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967063710000026">the populations have been generally stable</a>, thus showing little sign of recovery.</p>
<p>The criticism that we used “pseudo-commercial nets rather than data from fishing boats” – and that this invalidates our results – would be extremely weak in any case. The scientific trawls are modified commercial nets with finer mesh in the cod end (the part where the fish are ultimately collected after being herded into the net) and therefore catch a wider range of fish sizes than commercial nets. This will influence indices of biodiversity, but will not affect retention of the larger species that contribute most to the biomass indices or catches of sharks for instance. </p>
<p>One of the gears (<a href="http://www.jacksontrawls.co.uk/">Jackson Trawls of Peterhead model BT195</a>) is identical to commercial fishing gears used by Scottish vessels targeting monkfish. The <a href="http://blogs.scotland.gov.uk/coastal-monitoring/2015/03/25/mrv-scotia-survey-0415a-cruise-programme/">Scottish monkfish survey</a> was specifically developed together with the fishing industry so that direct comparisons between survey vessels and fishing vessels could be made. Despite variation in gear type the trends in the indices were not significantly different. This is <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822%2815%2900938-0.pdf">all set out in the paper</a> or the many works underpinning it. It is little surprise then that <a href="http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00226/33744/">our study also shows</a> a very similar pattern of species richness with depth to those recorded from commercial trawls by on-board observers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97596/original/image-20151007-7337-1er4eo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97596/original/image-20151007-7337-1er4eo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97596/original/image-20151007-7337-1er4eo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97596/original/image-20151007-7337-1er4eo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97596/original/image-20151007-7337-1er4eo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97596/original/image-20151007-7337-1er4eo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/97596/original/image-20151007-7337-1er4eo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deep-sea fishing caption.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Atosan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is also worth noting at this point that the Scottish and French fishing industries <a>had already agreed to an 800m limit</a> before our paper came out – so now the question is whether this was the appropriate depth to choose. Our paper suggests not, because it demonstrates that trawling at depths beyond 600m the detrimental impacts on the fish community become increasingly adverse; an 800m limit would not be precautionary and risks continued ecosystem degradation. </p>
<p>A common argument put by industry is that this will be the “thin end of the wedge” and that NGOs will soon be back asking for the 200m and 400m limits for which they originally campaigned. We can say now that our study would not support the ban being moved shallower than 600m and would argue strongly against any NGO that proposed this. We follow the evidence – supported by the methodical collection of research data going back decades. Now we just want the science to be used.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by Dr Francis Neat of Marine Sciences Scotland.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48763/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Bailey currently holds funding or receives in kind support for fisheries and deep water research from Marine Science Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage, ClimateXChange, NERC and BP Exploration.
He has previously received a grant from the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition.
The work described in the paper was funded by NERC, EU grants and by the Scottish Government through Marine Scotland Science. </span></em></p>A study suggests that stopping deep-sea trawling at a depth of around 600m makes sense.David Bailey, Senior Lecturer (Institute of Biodiversity Animal Health and Comparative Medicine), University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/324212014-10-24T09:43:30Z2014-10-24T09:43:30ZPacific Remote Islands protection not just a drop in the ocean<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61705/original/qkp8gg4s-1413301058.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Coral reef ecosystem off Palmyra Atoll part of newly expanded Marine National Monument.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwspacific/5565696408/in/set-72157645505061863">Jim Maragos/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This fall, President Obama signed a <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/25/presidential-proclamation-pacific-remote-islands-marine-national-monumen">proclamation</a> that created the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-to-create-worlds-largest-protected-marine-reserve-in-pacific-ocean/2014/09/24/e2ecaab4-433e-11e4-b47c-f5889e061e5f_story.html">biggest marine reserve</a> in the world. By extending the protective boundaries around Wake Island, Jarvis Island and Johnston Atoll from 50 to 200 nautical miles, the <a href="http://www.fws.gov/refuge/pacific_remote_islands_marine_national_monument/">Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument</a> netted a six-fold increase in area. Resource extraction - including marine mining and commercial fishing – is now prohibited. Protecting these 490,000 square miles is a huge step forward in supporting efforts for marine resource protection and sustainability in the Pacific.</p>
<p>Due to improved fishing technologies, there are simply no natural refuges left in the oceans, only those we choose to establish and respect. Resources can be exploited from every depth, location, nook and cranny. Bottom dredges, trawlers, so-called fish finders that use SONAR to detect fish, SCUBA nighttime spear fishing, long-lining and cyanide used by some aquarium fish collectors have all contributed to the loss of resources at unsustainable levels. These techniques come with a high degree of collateral damage too, including by-catch.</p>
<h2>Savings accounts for marine life</h2>
<p><a href="http://cmbc.ucsd.edu/content/1/docs/agardy.pdf">Marine Protected Areas</a> are a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800999000853">proven tool</a> to <a href="http://www.mpa.nsw.gov.au/pdf/A-review-of-benefits-MPAs.pdf">address</a> such losses. When properly enforced, they serve to protect all the parts of a functioning marine ecosystem. Just as in human health, all of the parts need to be protected and in good functional shape. Great kidneys and lungs won’t work if the heart or brain are missing. Likewise, a healthy marine ecosystem needs a balance of all trophic – or feeding – levels including a variety of primary producers, prey and predators and the supporting physical habitat.</p>
<p>To use another metaphor, MPAs are like bank accounts; the fisheries resources contained within are the principal that produces interest in the form of offspring: larvae that become juveniles and eventually reproductive adults. The greater the principal in the form of fish stocks, the greater the interest which can be drawn sustainably in the form of caught fish. It is also notable that as the size of a mature female fish doubles, her <a href="http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/71/8/2171.full.pdf+html">reproductive capacity increases</a> up to a thousand-fold. Protecting the so-called BFFs – big fat females – raises the interest rate considerably, and is essential to the maintenance of fisheries stocks in large MPAs.</p>
<h2>Welcome to the neighborhood</h2>
<p>Key considerations in the selection and design of Marine Protected Areas include location, size and connectivity. The recently designated areas for expanded protections in the Pacific Remote Islands are particularly well chosen for a number of reasons.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62031/original/xnmwkhts-1413502361.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62031/original/xnmwkhts-1413502361.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62031/original/xnmwkhts-1413502361.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62031/original/xnmwkhts-1413502361.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62031/original/xnmwkhts-1413502361.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62031/original/xnmwkhts-1413502361.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62031/original/xnmwkhts-1413502361.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62031/original/xnmwkhts-1413502361.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Area of PRIMNM as of September 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PRIMNM_Expansion_Actual_wEEZ.jpg">Beth Pike</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From a human (not fish) perspective, these islands are indeed remote. Ranging hundreds to thousands of miles south and west of Hawaii, they’re distant from land-based sources of pollution and sedimentation. The lack of resident human populations on these islands and their relatively minimal use make them low-hanging fruit in the search for locations that can be added to the world’s inventory of MPAs. It’s far more difficult to establish much-needed large protected areas where there are preexisting high levels of use.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61707/original/5ccfxgx5-1413301477.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61707/original/5ccfxgx5-1413301477.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61707/original/5ccfxgx5-1413301477.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61707/original/5ccfxgx5-1413301477.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61707/original/5ccfxgx5-1413301477.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61707/original/5ccfxgx5-1413301477.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61707/original/5ccfxgx5-1413301477.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61707/original/5ccfxgx5-1413301477.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sea turtles are some of the happy residents of this protected area.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwspacific/12197897325/in/set-72157645505061863">Kydd Pollock</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This expanded marine national monument contains a variety of ecosystems: deep ocean benthos, numerous seamounts, thriving coral reefs. It’s home to rich phytoplankton and zooplankton populations that drive the entire oceanic food web, and populations of large migratory fish of economic, ecological and cultural value. The included island landmasses host millions of seabirds and provide nesting habitat for endangered species of sea turtles. It makes sense to protect areas that still have intact and thriving flora and fauna.</p>
<p>Models of climate change impacts show an increase in the size and persistence of the <a href="http://www.spc.int/crga/sites/default/files/documents_uploads/Mixed%20responses%20of%20tropical%20Pacific%20fisheries%20and%20aquaculture%20to%20Climate%20Change.pdf">western Pacific warm pool</a>, a body of the world’s warmest waters that spans from the equatorial Pacific to the Eastern Indian Ocean. This is expected to cause migratory fish to move east and north, into the Pacific Remote Islands. Catch data demonstrates an <a href="http://press.anu.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ch0121.pdf">increase in fish populations</a> in this region during El Niño years when sea surface temperatures rise. For this reason, the location of this Marine National Monument is especially important for the future.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61708/original/pqks99yr-1413301760.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61708/original/pqks99yr-1413301760.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61708/original/pqks99yr-1413301760.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61708/original/pqks99yr-1413301760.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61708/original/pqks99yr-1413301760.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61708/original/pqks99yr-1413301760.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61708/original/pqks99yr-1413301760.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61708/original/pqks99yr-1413301760.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kingman Reef, pretty close to the middle of nowhere.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwspacific/12198955306/in/set-72157645505061863">Susan White/USFWS</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Not a cure-all</h2>
<p>The establishment of large MPAs like those covered under Obama’s recent proclamation is both scientifically defensible and critically important. But MPAs alone can’t ensure resource sustainability into the future. Consider the kids’ game of tag: you’re only safe when you’re securely on base, and you’re at risk of capture when you run from one base to another. Fishers are familiar with this as well; they’ll simply <a href="http://marineprotectedareas.noaa.gov/pdf/helpful-resources/dofishswim_inoutmpas.pdf">line up</a> in the corridors of connectivity among MPAs to capture migratory species as they travel from one safe base to the next. To protect populations of fish as they move, regional MPA networks must include a number of these connection corridors.</p>
<p>Finally, the expanded areas of protection, as with all MPAs, will be of no value unless there is effective enforcement. This will require sufficient dedicated financial, institutional and human resources to work. The tools are available, including vessel monitoring systems, observer programs, satellite surveillance and drone technologies. Marine spatial planning that identifies clear shipping lanes makes it easier to spot poachers, and with appropriate regional political will, it can be easy to impound such vessels coming into ports to offload or refuel.</p>
<p>Still, only 2% of the world’s oceans are <a href="http://www.mpatlas.org/explore/">under any kind</a> of protection, <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=1937360&fileId=S003060530800046X">far less than the 30% recommended</a> by numerous marine scientists and policy makers. This goal is based on biological concerns about the loss of species, habitat and marine ecosystem sustainability, and the economic realities of documented overfishing and resource depletion in our oceans. Considering the impacts of global climate change on top of over-exploitation of fisheries resources and ongoing pollution, meaningful action is critical if we are to leave a legacy of healthy oceans and resources for future generations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32421/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Richmond is affiliated with Pew.
I am a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation (2008) and the Pew Environmental Group has been supporting the expanded protections</span></em></p>This fall, President Obama signed a proclamation that created the biggest marine reserve in the world. By extending the protective boundaries around Wake Island, Jarvis Island and Johnston Atoll from 50…Robert Richmond, Director of Kewalo Marine Laboratory, University of HawaiiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/299162014-07-31T14:39:05Z2014-07-31T14:39:05ZBefore we plunder the deep ocean further we must take stock of what could be lost<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55335/original/ht9g9xdx-1406734833.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Will what lies beneath still be there once we've finished with it?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://pixabay.com/en/animal-asia-blue-dark-deep-depth-18719/">PublicDomainPictures</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The deep sea is the largest habitat on earth and incredibly important to humans, but it faces many threats – from increased human exploitation to the effects of climate change. As this exploitation expands we need to decide to what extent we will try to conserve the oceans, and this is a decision that must be informed by what the oceans provide. This was the motivation for <a href="http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/3941/2014/bg-11-3941-2014.html">our study</a>, published in the journal Biogeosciences.</p>
<p>One of the constant challenges faced by deep-sea researchers is the impression often held that the deep-sea is too unknown and remote to be important to humans. This makes it an uphill battle to explain why our research is of more than just scientific interest. The fact that the deep oceans are largely in international waters outside national jurisdiction means that its importance is truly global, because it is only at a planet-wide level that they can be properly managed.</p>
<p>We are on the verge of expanding the range of what we take from the sea: developments such as <a href="http://worldoceanreview.com/en/wor-1/energy/marine-minerals/">manganese nodule mining</a> are closer to fruition, terrestrial supplies of rare earth elements are dwindling making the massive reservoirs under the ocean more attractive, and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/science/09seafloor.html?_r=0">mining claims</a> for massive sulfides, rich in elements used in electronics, are likely to start in the next year. </p>
<p>This is the time to discuss deep-sea stewardship before it is already underway. Already commercial fishing has expanded to encompass more species, taking more from the sea with ramifications for the entire marine ecosystem. We need to realise how these ecosystems are important to human society now, so that those who are beginning to harvest yet more resources from the oceans can see what impact that may have. </p>
<p>In addition to summarising what the deep sea provides to society already, we also emphasise that a different approach needs to be taken. For example, manganese nodules take centuries or longer to form and are not renewable. Many commercial fish stocks are in decline – even with precautionary management. Fishing is often treated more as mining than management of a living resource; no time is allowed for certain slow-growing deep-sea fish stocks to recover resulting in the complete loss of the stock.</p>
<h2>Much more than just fish and fuel</h2>
<p>It’s not just the biological resources that are important. Because of its vast size, the physical and chemical aspects of the ocean essentially shape and regulate the way the planet works. </p>
<p>One of the most important services provided by the deep sea is its role in gas cycling: as one of the largest sinks for greenhouse gases on the planet, the world would not look like it does now without the deep sea. Already the ocean has <a href="http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/Ocean+Carbon+Uptake">absorbed a massive amount</a> of the CO<sub>2</sub> we have released, bearing the brunt of the human impact on the climate. There are also <a href="https://theconversation.com/japans-quest-to-tap-the-natural-gas-beneath-the-ocean-floor-26770">vast reservoirs of methane</a> under the seafloor, which is consumed by bacterial and biological processes when it is released, preventing it from reaching the atmosphere and exacerbating the effects of global warming.</p>
<p>Also vital is the <a href="http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/oceanography/courses/OCN626/respiration%20and%20efficiency.pdf">remineralisation of nutrients</a> which provides the nitrogen, phosphate, and other nutrients needed to sustain the most productive surface fisheries on the planet. When that deep, nutrient rich water comes to the surface it stimulates plankton to create the base of the most productive marine food webs, which in turn feed billions of humans.</p>
<p>The most important result of this study is to highlight the diversity of what ocean habitats offer to humans for our benefit, from the deep-sea trenches to vents and seeps. While this vast environment still contains a staggering list of unknowns, what we do know highlights the extent of what it provides to society. From materials for jewellery or electronics to oil and gas and other future potential energy reserves or novel pharmaceuticals, its value should be recognised. In this way, as we decide to use it more in the future we work to avoid damaging or losing the services it already provides. </p>
<p>What the ocean provides reaches all across humankind, from fishers providing food or income from the sea, directly or indirectly, or those far removed from the ocean whose climates are changing less fast than they would if the deep ocean was not absorbing 25-50% of all the CO<sub>2</sub> already released into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution.</p>
<p>The importance of these services makes it less like many of the other systems that are managed and so the traditional methods and frameworks need to be changed. We hope that the managers, stakeholders and scientists involved with the ocean’s resources will be able to use our work to develop their understanding of the interconnected nature of everything the deep sea has to offer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29916/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The deep sea is the largest habitat on earth and incredibly important to humans, but it faces many threats – from increased human exploitation to the effects of climate change. As this exploitation expands…Jeroen Ingels, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Plymouth Marine LaboratoryAndrew Thurber, Assistant Professor (Sr. Research) in Ocean Ecology and Biogeochemistry, Oregon State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/259502014-04-28T05:07:14Z2014-04-28T05:07:14ZIf the damage being done to deep seas happened on land, there would be uproar<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/47070/original/j36zqbq2-1398442367.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Trawling off the West of Scotland is a causing concern</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/an_solas/10145781806/in/photolist-5M37K-5M32M-Mt51-AZro-czLd1w-dWgZBW-8ACnFH-sXLG-9yCGPJ-5kax1-fNCm4M-f2pkCs-d5LWM-MFsc-f2pgZQ-7SdSB5-fNmpHZ-aBkVd1-3TBPB-8BkshL-6xMGXm-gS1whj-tFh7-cEyHbA-4dvoC4-5r6Cru-a9DHfj-8Pvfas-f7ZyVm-5gPfF-8GHqzE-5gPfG-HQN6-gsxMsw-asC2G8-9CYnn6-cNG2dU-5dmzcD-8ch2C1-6zGJgz-9oAuXZ-6vuPun-62yZZP-eedSwT-EymA-j3nJD4-PAH2-62Dfx9-62yZTK-4DUCQZ">soilse</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some years ago New Yorker magazine <a href="http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/I-don-t-know-why-I-don-t-care-about-the-bottom-of-the-ocean-but-I-don-t-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i8643457_.htm">printed a cartoon</a> showing a group of high society ladies enjoying an afternoon cup of tea. One lady turns to her neighbour and says, “I don’t know why I don’t care about the bottom of the ocean, but I don’t.”</p>
<p>It’s often argued that we know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the bottom of the ocean, and the New York society ladies perfectly reflect the issue – what’s out of sight is out of mind. Does it matter that we know so little about the largest areas on our planet? Does the deep sea do anything for society? Is it important?</p>
<p>An eclectic group of scientists, fishing representatives and government policy makers <a href="http://www.hw.ac.uk/news-events/events/the-future-scotlands-deep-seas-16403.htm">is meeting today in Edinburgh</a> to discuss the future of Scotland’s deep seas. Here in the UK the vast majority of deep-sea territory is to the west of Scotland beneath the Atlantic waters that stretch out to Rockall.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/47068/original/4n5m3dm6-1398442147.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/47068/original/4n5m3dm6-1398442147.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/47068/original/4n5m3dm6-1398442147.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47068/original/4n5m3dm6-1398442147.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47068/original/4n5m3dm6-1398442147.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47068/original/4n5m3dm6-1398442147.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47068/original/4n5m3dm6-1398442147.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47068/original/4n5m3dm6-1398442147.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deep sea fishing off Rockall is causing trouble down below.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/suda/3600444397">Irish Defence Forces</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From the surface, the grey expanse of the Atlantic hides a seabed that is far from a featureless expanse of sand and mud. The edge of the continental shelf is strewn with rocks dropped from icebergs at the end of the last glaciation. </p>
<p>These rocks provide a perch for corals and sponges to settle and feed, growing into elaborate colonies that can live for hundreds of years. In some places these corals and sponges cover the seabed, forming deep-water coral reefs and sponge fields. </p>
<h2>Secrets of the deep</h2>
<p>Although these deep-sea habitats have been known since the 19th century oceanographic expeditions led by Edinburgh’s <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/593056/Sir-C-Wyville-Thomson">Charles Wyville Thomson</a>, it is only in the past two decades that researchers have begun to uncover their true extent and diversity.</p>
<p>Using acoustic technologies borrowed from the military and oil industry, marine scientists can now map the seabed in glorious three-dimensional detail. These surveys are revealing not only the diversity of habitats in Scotland’s deep seas, but they also tell us that many have been damaged. </p>
<p>From linear scars cutting across sonar surveys to photographs of smashed coral colonies, evidence has accumulated not only from Scotland but also Ireland, Norway and beyond that deep-water trawl fishing has damaged and in some cases destroyed deep-sea habitats that have developed since the last ice age 10,000 years ago.</p>
<p>But if the fish caught are an essential part of our food security and the populations of deep-sea fish are in good shape, perhaps this is a price worth paying. </p>
<p>The deep seas west of Scotland have been fished for more than 30 years. Populations of deep-water fish have declined. Some deep-sea sharks are now on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org">Red List</a> as “endangered” (Portuguese dogfish and leafscale gulper shark) and “critically endangered” (gulper shark). </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/47067/original/6y9vrvyq-1398441993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/47067/original/6y9vrvyq-1398441993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/47067/original/6y9vrvyq-1398441993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47067/original/6y9vrvyq-1398441993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47067/original/6y9vrvyq-1398441993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47067/original/6y9vrvyq-1398441993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47067/original/6y9vrvyq-1398441993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/47067/original/6y9vrvyq-1398441993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Endangered: leafscale gulper shark.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/suda/3600444397">Brian Suda</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Deep-sea fish catches follow characteristic cycles of boom in the early days and bust as the populations are fished down. Why is this? The pace of life in the deep sea is slow. Food rains down from the surface waters and the animals of the deep sea are adapted with slow growth, long lifespans and low rates of reproduction. </p>
<p>For these reasons, the scientific consensus is that for the vast majority of deep-sea fisheries to be sustainable, the harvest rates must be very, very low. Because deep-sea fish live in mixed populations, it is also hard to target any one species of fish without catching others.</p>
<p>Neither are deep-sea fish a significant part of food security. The combined catch of fish from the water column and seabed from the seas around Rockall, Bailey and the Faroe-Shetland channel, which are mostly relatively shallow stocks of haddock and monkfish, <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/education/atlas">add up to</a> just 8% of the value of the catch landed in Scotland. </p>
<h2>The policy battle</h2>
<p>In March 2013 the European Union’s environment committee voted in favour of a proposal to phase out deep-sea bottom trawling and gill net fishing below 200m, but this measure was subsequently rejected by the fisheries committee. In December when put to a vote, the European Parliament was split but <a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/environment/2013/12/european-deep-sea-trawling-ban-sinks">narrowly rejected</a> this proposal. </p>
<p>There are a number of reasons for the close nature of the vote. Not all the fish populations taken at 200m depth are in decline. Some are well managed and are important to vulnerable local communities in areas such as the western Highlands.</p>
<p>There was also the question that if Europe had completely banned deep-water fishing, would some of the vessels have moved further afield to waters off west Africa, or to international waters where there is little or no regulation?</p>
<p>In life there are no simple answers, but we can look for guiding principles and examples of good practice. Good work has been done to create <a href="http://www.snh.gov.uk/protecting-scotlands-nature/protected-areas/national-designations/marine-protected-areas-%28mpa%29/">marine protected areas (MPAs)</a> in the deep waters west of Scotland. But these MPAs have been put in place without understanding how the areas are connected ecologically. </p>
<p>The challenges of deep-sea sampling mean that we know very little about how deep-sea animal populations are structured. Larger-scale projects integrating genetics with new models of ocean circulation are needed to fill these major gaps.</p>
<p>But perhaps the most important issue is to celebrate the diversity of deep-sea life and share the information beyond the confines of academic journals and dry policy documents. </p>
<p>People don’t care about things they have never seen and know nothing about. But I expect the New York ladies would object noisily if someone suggested bulldozing the pyramids or felling the last few stands of giant redwoods. </p>
<p>The issues of deep-sea fishing and its sustainability are a global concern, and the debate in Europe has reached a critical point. It now remains to be seen if a scientifically credible and politically feasible agreement can be reached that will allow the European Union to show global leadership in managing its share of the largest ecosystem on Earth. </p>
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<p><em>A Sustainable Future for Scotland’s Deep Seas will take place in Edinburgh at Our Dynamic Earth at 6pm on Monday April 28. To register email deepsea@mcsuk.org</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/25950/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>J. Murray Roberts does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some years ago New Yorker magazine printed a cartoon showing a group of high society ladies enjoying an afternoon cup of tea. One lady turns to her neighbour and says, “I don’t know why I don’t care about…J. Murray Roberts, Director of Centre for Marine Biodiversity and Biotechnology, Heriot-Watt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.