September 24, 2015 — Everyone — from fishermen to environmentalists — agrees on the need to preserve Cashes Ledge and the swath of deepwater canyons and seabeds south of Georges Bank.
There is a deep distrust, however, over the method several environmental groups — including the Conservation Law Foundation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Pew Charitable Trusts — are using to make that happen.
Their heavy-handed, autocratic attempt to create a so-called “marine national monument” off the coast of Cape Ann is creating a political quagmire, with Democrats and Republicans weighing in on the issue alongside fishermen and environmentalists. The resulting scrum could lead to a situation no one wants, namely fewer protections for one of the more stunning underwater regions in the Atlantic Ocean.
We are hoping cooler heads — including U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Salem — can prevail on the interested parties to collaborate on a preservation plan, bypassing a proposed presidential fiat.
The fight centers on conservationists’ push to create the national monument at Cashes Ledge and south of Georges Bank. President Obama, they note, can use his executive powers — through the Antiquities Act — to make it happen with little or no public input.
The move would make the areas, located between 80 and 100 miles off Cape Ann, permanently off limits to activities such as drilling and fishing (though that’s not happening there now).
No one is arguing the areas shouldn’t be protected. The spot south of Georges Bank, parallel to Cape Cod, for example, is made up of stunning seamounts and canyons that rise and plunge thousands of feet from the sea floor.
Somehow, however, the conservation groups decided they were the sole arbiters of the best way to manage the area, and have moved to shut out other stakeholders, including the region’s fishermen. That’s not only wrong, it’s anti-democratic. The Gulf of Maine is a shared resource, which by definition means the decisions about how to manage it must also be shared. Fishermen and other groups deserve a voice.
Read the full editorial at the Gloucester Daily Times