Fishing regulations are labyrinthine, combining federal and state rules. The fishery council does not have jurisdiction over lobster fishing, and it also voted to exempt red-crab fishing from the regulations for at least two years. Protections do not extend to oil and gas drilling, or the laying of cables or other underwater activities. Those are all regulated by different agencies. Although other rules may apply for those activities, the council has no say in matters other than fishing. In January, President Obama proposed opening an area of the Atlantic to drilling that overlaps the southern part of the protected area.

In recent years, submersible dives have revealed much about the ecosystems of deep-sea corals. Armed with that information, conservation groups have pushed to stop the kind of trawling that can dislodge or break the corals.

Mr. Sewell said after the vote that fishing regulations offered only some protections and that he hoped that the decision would send a signal to agencies that regulated other activities.

The vote had been postponed until now because of disagreement at a council meeting in February. The industry objected to many of the rules, and a workshop was held in April in which scientists, activists and industry representatives participated.