It all started when the local First Nation was informed of a “bump on the ocean floor” where the fish liked to hang out. This led to the discovery of the only living coral reef in Canadian Pacific waters. Three years later, Ottawa banned fishing in the area containing this unique reef, the only healthy reef in the country, to protect it.

Deep-sea ecologist Cherisse Du Preez worked with the native Kitasoo Finlayson Channel, about 500 km northwest of Vancouver, British Columbia.

On the expedition's final dive, the team discovered a “beautiful and thriving” ecosystem at a depth of around 200 meters.

“You're glowing [les projecteurs] and you realize that you are the first to see everything: beautiful pinks, purples and yellows, crevices, hills. And if you look past the corals, you can see that there are other animals there,” says Ms^Me Du Preez, deep-water ecology program manager at Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

“Then we start to see the eels and octopuses or rockfish come in [dans le récif corallien] And [en] come out. And even if we point the camera up, we can see the schools of fish above. Everywhere you look there is life. »

“All the science and logic in the world says there shouldn’t be a coral reef there, but the First Nations knew there was something there,” she said.

The Fisheries Ministry announced last week that it has closed the area of ​​British Columbia's central coast above the coral reef to all bottom-contact commercial and recreational fishing, including mid-water trawling.

The ministry said the indefinite closure was “based on an important scientific discovery” because “this area, although small, is a unique reef in the world that is highly vulnerable to damage, particularly from fishing gear.”

It is the northernmost known coral reef in the entire Pacific, he said.

Important for the ecosystem

Cherisse Du Preez still remembers the excitement when her team discovered the reef. “It's quite remarkable to visit these places to take pictures and feel this paradox: it's far away, it's another world, but it's our world. »

Mike Reid, fisheries director for the Heiltsuk Nation Integrated Resource Management Service, said his community had always known there was something in the area that supported fishing, but didn't know exactly what.

“Lophelia Reef is very important for the ecosystem, for the biodiversity of this particular area. It contributes to the overall health of this region,” he said.

The reef provides habitat and refuge for marine animals and allows colonies of fish and other animals to form, Ms. added.^Me You Preez. “This coral reef has valleys and hills […] Hills provide breeding grounds. So there are all schools of small fish that live and hide from their predators. »

“Then there are the big fish – we have species of particular concern and at risk that use this coral reef for food, shelter and habitat,” the researcher said.

However, she adds that she has found dead coral around the reef, which could be due to climate change. “It's a very big problem and one of the reasons why it's so important to stop fishing in this area is because we need to relieve all possible stress to give this reef the opportunity to survive changes that we can't stop.” »

A one-degree change in temperature could have devastating consequences for the reef, she said.

Leri Davies, Pacific spokesperson for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, said Fisheries officers from the Conservation and Protection Branch regularly patrol marine reserves, protected areas and restricted areas to ensure regulations are being followed.

“We use a variety of intelligence enforcement methods, including aerial, maritime, river and land surveillance, as well as night and covert patrols, to actively monitor fishing activities in all sectors and ensure compliance with the law,” the ministry clarified.

Cherisse Du Preez said Canada's Pacific coast is “unique in the world,” blessed with nature and wildlife found nowhere else.

“This gives us the opportunity to have so much life in our deep sea, and we are very lucky,” said the ecologist.

“We are so spoiled with our seabed on our coast, and I hope that environments like this will make people across the country feel that the seabed is as Canadian as the Rocky Mountains.” »

To watch in the video