VICTORIA -- Scientists say the discovery of glass sponge reefs once believed to be extinct in northern British Columbia's Hecate Strait is like finding a herd of dinosaurs roaming on land.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans moved Friday to protect the undersea treasures, but a conservation group that has been lobbying to protect the sponges for over 15 years says the proposed change is weak and doesn't go far enough.
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society director Sabine Jessen said permitting bottom trawlers and other fishing activities near the prehistoric reefs threatens the existence of the delicate sponges, which are only found in B.C. waters.
She said some of the reefs are as tall as eight-storey buildings but they can crumble if disturbed and fishing activities stir sea floor sediment that chokes the sponges.
"We've had concerns right from the beginning that the reefs are vulnerable to anything that touches them because they have the consistency of meringue," said Jessen. "If something touches them it smashes them to bits."
Some of the white, grey or taupe coloured sponges resemble coral, while others look like delicate Elizabethan neck ruffles or the pleated tulle of a ballerina's skirt.
Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea said in a statement Friday that the proposed Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs Marine Protected Area Regulations have reached a new step toward becoming designated a Marine Protected Area.
A 30-day public comment period concludes July 26.
Shea's statement said the glass sponge reefs are unique as they are the only living examples of the large sponge reefs that have existed since the Jurassic Period. Experts say some of the current reefs date back over 9,000 years.
Jessen said the proposed draft marine protected area regulations will still allow fishing while scientists study the potential harms that could result.
"We don't think that any activity should be occurring above the reefs that could potentially touch them and damage them, and we don't think activities should be happening beside the reefs in the adaptive management zone that could kick up sediment off the sea floor and cause the reefs to be smothered," she said.
