February 3, 2017 — The Baltimore National Aquarium’s sponsorship of a proposal to have Baltimore Canyon declared an Urban Marine Sanctuary ended Wednesday with a letter from aquarium CEO John C. Racanelli notifying federal officials that it is withdrawing its nomination.
The letter to John Armor, director of the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries in Silver Spring, ends months of disagreement between the aquarium and local fishing interests, who feared that granting the canyon limited protected status now might lead to heavier restrictions later that would prevent them from fishing those waters.
Roughly 60 miles off the coast, the 28-mile-long canyon has long been one of the locations favored by anglers in the pursuit of marlin and other gamefish, hence the jittery initial response from the industry locally when the aquarium announced its plan in October with assurances that fishing would not be affected.