US President Barack Obama on Thursday designated the country’s first marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean that aims to protect fragile deep-sea ecosystems off the coast of New England, a region famous for its fishing industry.
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The new Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument consists of almost 5,000 sq. miles of underwater canyons and mountains off the New England coast. The White House said the monument is home to protected species such as the sperm, fin and sei whales, and Kemp’s ridley turtles. It’s happening in America”, Obama told the audience at the State Department.”I know that in a contest between us and the ocean, the ocean will win one way or another, so it’s us that has to adapt. On Thursday, he announced the creation of a new marine national monument in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The Mytilus Seamount which is part of the new Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument.
Opponents, however, complained that the move will hurt the fishing industry in New England, a geographical region which comprises six northeastern USA states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Recreational fishing will be allowed in the protected zone but most commercial fishing operations have 60 days to “transition from the monument area”, according to the White House.
In a memo about the merits of the monument, the Natural Resources Defense Council said the canyons and seamounts within the monument are some of the least fished areas in the U.S. Atlantic, which is a key reason it was chosen for possible monument designation.
“This is deplorable”, said Grant Moore, president of the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, in describing the designation.
“We can not truly protect our planet without protecting our oceans”, he said.
Jon Williams, president of the Atlantic Red Crab Company in New Bedford, said his company will survive, but the changes created to address some of the industry’s concerns don’t sway him about the merits of the monument.
While the decision makes environmentalists happy, many fisherman said the announcement is deeply disappointing.
“I saw it. It was right there, evidence of the incredible power of nature to rebuild itself, if we’re not consistently trying to tear it down”, Obama said. Expeditions also have found species of coral found nowhere else on Earth. Just last month the Marine National Monument off the coast of Hawaii was expanded to cover over 440,000 square miles, making it the world’s largest marine reserve. Baker wrote that declaring a protected area could undermine ongoing work to develop marine habitat and ocean plans. “And that’s why my administration has protected more waters than any in history”.
Obama, who recalled body-surfing in the Pacific Ocean while he was growing up in Hawaii, called the pledges at the conference a “pretty good down payment” but said bolder global action was needed.
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And American movie star Leonardo DiCaprio unveiled a new crowd-sourced technology, Global Fishing Watch, to help concerned people track illegal fishing by satellite.
