Biden’s action to restore underwater monument earns groups’ praise
Environmental groups across the state are praising President Joe Biden’s executive order that will set in motion a process to review the Trump administration’s rollbacks to three national monuments — including the Marine National Monument off the coast of New England called the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts.
The 5,000-square-mile protected area was established in 2016 under President Barack Obama and is the first national monument in Atlantic waters. It contains vulnerable species of marine life such as right whales and fragile deep sea corals.
In June, the Trump administration issued an order to lift commercial fishing protections in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts. The new executive order does not immediately restore the commercial fishing ban, but it will begin the process of reversing the previous action.
“Most people are not aware that the Canyons and Seamounts Marine Monument is just off our CT shores, or that it had lost all protections with the stroke of Trump’s pen this past summer,” Lori Brown, executive director of the CT League of Conservation Voters, said in a statement. “This is our best chance to turn the tide on the misguided and destructive efforts of the previous administration to exploit our most critical ocean habitats. We don’t have time to waste.”
Other environmental organization leaders praised the efforts to protect the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, which is located about 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod, on the edge of Georges Bank.
“We applaud President Biden for taking immediate action to stand up for our national monuments,” said Louis Rosado Burch, Connecticut program director at Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts are an underwater treasure trove of sea life, including rare cold-water corals, majestic sea turtles and endangered marine mammals.”
Biden is sending a clear message that protecting oceans is a priority over shortsighted efforts to exploit and damage the irreplaceable resource, Rosado said.
“We are very pleased with this action and thank President Biden for fighting to keep our oceans healthy for generations to come,” Rosado said.
Alicea Charamut, executive director of
The 5,000-square-mile protected area was established in 2016 under President Barack Obama and is the first national monument in Atlantic waters. It contains vulnerable species of marine life such as right whales and fragile deep sea corals.
Rivers Alliance of Connecticut, said healthy oceans mean healthier migratory fish populations.
“When we protect biodiversity in our oceans, it benefits our inland waters and LI Sound,” Charamut said. “We are thrilled that the Biden administration is taking steps to restore protections for the Canyons and Seamounts National Monument, and we urge the president to follow through on his commitment to protect our waters for generations to come.”
When he the monument to commercial fishing, Trump said that Obama’s move to ban fishing in the area was “deeply unfair to Maine lobstermen,” although lobster fishermen from the state don’t fish in the area.
The two land monuments that Biden will reassess are the Grand StaircaseEscalante and Bears Ears National Monuments in southern Utah.