The Deep Reef today still harbors territorial fishes such as groupers 

 which, given protection and time, may repopulate the apparently overfished 

 Fore Reef zone. This could also be the case for conspicuously missing corals 

 which might, in time, repopulate the Fore Reef from the stocks that live on 

 the Deep Reef. 



Other fish found on the Fore Reef but occurring in greater abundance 

 on the Deep Reef are butterflyfishes, and hamlets, blue chromis and Creole 

 wrasses which prefer depths greater than 30-46 feet. Fish found only on 

 the Deep Reef by the Looe Key Resource Inventory are purple reef fish, sun- 

 shine fish, spotfin, and hogfish which naturally range between 55 and 120 

 feet (Noyes, 1980, public hearing testimony). 



The main part of the Deep Reef exhibits a coral community of intermediate 

 to deepwater species, with some coral species growing abundantly here but 

 which no longer occur on the Fore Reef. The Deep Reef, on the seaward side, 

 is a slope of increasing steepness, ending in a small dropoff to about 25 to 

 35m depth. 



Since the 5 sq nm alternative contains portions of the Deep Ridge as 

 well as the main four reef zones of Looe Key, it forms a representative 

 "slice of the ecological pie" through the reef tract in this area. This is 

 one of the basic reasons for its selection as the preferred boundary. The 

 5 sq nm boundary alternative would create a sanctuary containing representa- 

 tive components of each reef zone and would establish a sanctuary that protects 

 a piece of the reef tract system rather than one component as is the case in 

 boundary alternative #1. This approach is consistent with the goals and 

 objectives developed for a possible sanctuary at Looe Key. 



The 5 nm area will pose less of an economic hardship to local fishermen 

 than would be the case in the 10 nm proposed sanctuary and yet will meet the 

 goals desired for the sanctuary. A sanctuary with this boundary would repre- 

 sent all of the reefal zones and be "systematic" in scope providing for the 

 maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity of the entire Looe Key 

 ecological unit. This boundary alternative would provide a geographic basis 

 for achieving the sanctuary goals. 



D. Preferred Regulatory Alternative 



1 . Coral Collecting 



The following alternatives were analyzed for regulating coral 

 col lecting: 



a. Unregulated collecting (status quo); 



b. Prohibiting collection or possession of all coral (living 

 or dead) except by permit for scientific and educational 

 purposes; and 



c. Prohibiting the collection or possession of all coral 

 (living or dead) within the sanctuary. 



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