Norway has created a new marine protected area in Andfjorden, a deep fjord between Nordland and Troms in the country’s far north, Good News Network reports.
The reserve covers roughly 714 square miles across the municipalities of Andøy, Harstad and Senja. It shelters coral reefs and coral gardens, sponge and sea-pen communities, kelp forests and maerl beds, which act as spawning, nursery and feeding grounds for many fish. Whales and seabirds gather there too, and the most fragile zones carry tighter limits on activity.
A board drawn from local councils, county authorities and the Sámi Parliament will run the area. The designation lifts the share of protected waters off mainland Norway from 4.8% to 6%, and means 24 of the 36 sites earmarked in the country’s 2004 marine protection plan are now safeguarded.
Source: Good News Network