Distribution, standing crop, population structure, and growth rates of black coral in the southern fiords of New Zealand

Abstract

Abstract The existence of an enormous potential resource of black coral is confirmed from the size and depth distribution of over 3000 colonies measured down 261 random transects on a recent research cruise to the southern fiords of New Zealand. Colonies were found from 4 m to at least 40 m, the maximum depth sampled, and in densities of up to 5 m 2 . This is extremely shallow and dense when compared to other known black coral populations throughout the Pacific. The population structure is dominated by juveniles (90% of population < 50 cm tall), and the growth rates are very slow (2.9 cm y∼'), making the colonies susceptible to overexploitation. Results are presented to show the estimated size of the resource, standing crop estimates, population structure, and growth rates of the colonies.