Cold-water coral mounds and sponge-beds as habitats for demersal fish on the Norwegian shelf

The importance of cold-water coral (CWC) mounds and sponge-beds as habitat for demersal fish was examined in the Træna Deep marine protected area and adjacent areas of the Norwegian continental shelf. Standardised longline fishing was conducted twice, in June and March, and predetermined fishing effort was allocated to multiple plots with varying densities of small CWC mounds and sponges, plus control plots with neither of these habitats....