A plan to protect 38,000 square miles of coral habitat in middle of Atlantic has been approved by Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council.

On Wednesday, the panel voted to recommend the restrictions. This is first time the nation's eight fisheries-management council has exercised its authority to protect deep-sea-coral habitats in its jurisdiction.

The restrictions cover 27 deep-sea canyons divided into 15 protection zones. The canyons run from the edge of the continental shelf and down the continental margins to the deep-ocean floor.

Corals in these canyons serve as nurseries for commercially valuable fish such as red crab, lobster, flounder, and hake. The canyons also host a range of creatures unique to the coral beds. Some researchers have dubbed the coral beds as the old-growth forests of the deep ocean.

The canyons host other habitats such as cold seeps. In them, hydrogen sulfide, methane, and other gases bubble up through the sea floor to promote creatures that rely on chemicals for energy, rather than sunlight.

Brad Sewell, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council's Oceans Program, said that the panel's move is defensive.

For years, scientific interest in deep-sea corals has been building for years. Tools have been available in the last 30 to 35 years to systematically retrieve samples and study them in detail.

Sewell said, "I can't say that it was an easy lift to reach the point where the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council was ready to approve the restrictions. But it's certainly easier to close an area off to fishing that's not being fished".

The changes approved by the council are still required to be presented to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for approval as draft changes.