Until now, coral attached to the legs of oil and gas installations have either been composted or sent to landfill when the platforms have been removed.
But the new initiative is giving them new homes close to west of Shetland oil fields where exclusion zones will protect them from destructive fishing.
It is hoped that Offshore Marine Protected Areas, which are being proposed by the Scottish government, will protect them in the longer-term.
Experts say the once abundant cold-water corals of the northern North Sea fell victim to bottom-trawling and dredging, a fishing method which can damage the sea bed.
Tropical corals, which live in shallower water, face an existential threat from climate change, with warming waters causing bleaching.
But deep sea corals face different problems from an increasing lack of food and ocean acidification which can corrode the hard structures.