Harter et al. : Assessment of fish populations and habitat on Oculina Bank 
205 
In summary, unlike shallow-water ecosystems, un- 
derstanding of the ecological and functional role of 
deep-water corals has only recently emerged. The cur- 
rent study is in agreement with most other recent lit- 
erature, demonstrating that corals are functionally 
equivalent to other deep-sea structural habitats. Deep- 
sea corals, however, are clearly an important provider 
of structural habitat for fishes and are sensitive to 
fishing gear impacts and vulnerable to destruction 
due to their fragility and slow growth rates. There- 
fore, protection remains crucial. While an ecosystem 
approach to management has become widely accepted 
and MPAs have become a primary tool to manage deep- 
sea coral ecosystems, little evidence has been provided 
demonstrating MPA effectiveness. This study, however, 
revealed several positive effects of the closure including 
higher biodiversity, grouper densities, and percentage 
of intact coral suggesting initial effectiveness of the 
Oculina MPA. 
Acknowledgments 
We thank the United Space Alliance (USA), National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and 
the crews of the MV Liberty Star and MV Freedom Star 
for providing vessel support. L. Horn and G. Taylor of 
University of North Carolina at Wilmington/National 
Underwater Research Center (UNCW/NURC) provided 
ROV support. Funding was provided by National Ocean- 
ographic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA) Office 
of Exploration, National Marine Fisheries Service South- 
east Fisheries Science Center (NMFS SEFSC), NOAA 
Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP), and NOAA 
Undersea Research Center at UNCW. M. Miller of NMFS 
SEFSC acted as NOAA CRCP representative. A. Maness 
of UNCW/NURC provided the image analysis program. 
We also thank C. Koenig and S. Brooke whose comments 
helped to improve the manuscript. 
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