[4] Although L. pertusa reefs are home to a diverse community, the species is extremely slow growing and may be harmed by destructive fishing practices, or oil exploration and extraction.

This rain of dead plankton is visible on photographs of the seabed and stimulates a seasonal cycle of growth and reproduction in Lophelia.

L. pertusa was listed under CITES Appendix II in January 1990, meaning that the United Nations Environmental Programme recognizes that this species is not necessarily currently threatened with extinction but that it may become so in the future.

[5] The primary threats arise from the devastation of reefs caused by the use of heavy deep-sea trawl nets, specifically aimed at catching redfish or grenadiers.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, the European Commission’s main scientific advisor on fisheries and environmental issues in the northeast Atlantic, recommend mapping and then closing all of Europe’s deep corals to fishing trawlers.

[11] In 1999, the Norwegian Ministry of Fisheries closed an area of 1,000 square kilometres (390 sq mi) at Sula, including the large reef, to bottom trawling.

[12] In recent years, environmental organizations such as Greenpeace have argued that exploration for oil on the north west continental shelf slopes of Europe should be curtailed due to the possibility that is it damaging to the Lophelia reefs - conversely, Lophelia has recently been observed growing on the legs of oil installations,[13] specifically the Brent Spar rig which Greenpeace campaigned to remove.

[17] As ocean temperatures continue to rise due to global warming, climate change is another deadly factor that threatens the existence of L. pertusa.

Surveys have recorded that conger eels, sharks, groupers, hake and the invertebrate community consisting of brittle stars, molluscs, amphipods and crabs reside on these beds.

It is suggested that E. norvegica positively influences L.pertusa by forming connecting tubes, which are later calcified, in order to strengthen the reef frameworks.

[9] L. pertusa has been reported from Anguilla, Bahamas, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cuba, Cyprus, Ecuador, Faroe Islands, France, French Southern Territories, Greece, Grenada, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Madagascar, Mexico, Montserrat, Norway, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States of America, U.S. Virgin Islands and Wallis and Futuna Islands.