Federal regulators have signed off on new protections for thousands of square miles of deep-sea corals off New England.
Credit NOAA Fisheries
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday it has approved a final rule that designates the coral protection areas on Georges Bank and in the Gulf of Maine.
The largest of the underwater areas is called the Georges Bank Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area and it is located mostly southeast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
NOAA officials say the protected zone places prohibitions on bottom-tending commercial fishing gear, with the exception of certain kinds of crab traps.
