"walk in" and repopulate an area. This leads to the question of how much of 

 the stock population are you wiping out? It will be a much higher percentage 

 for the sessile organisms that inhabit the canyons. Ayers and Hecker agreed 

 that the deeper one goes, the longer recolonization would take, and the more 

 sensitive the organisms become. 



GEOGRAPHIC EXTENT AND AREA OCCUPIED BY CANYONS 



Cooper stated that 20 percent of the upper continental slope off Georges 

 Bank is occupied by submarine canyons.* Hecker questioned whether the small 

 "noncanyons" should be subtracted. Teal summarized by saying that there seems 

 to be general agreement that the canyons occupy a substantial portion of the 

 upper slope. 



"See also reviewer comment in Appendix A. 



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