March 15, 2017 — Weather permitting, Mayor Jon Mitchell on Wednesday will be in Washington giving testimony to Congress about an underwater marine monument which former President Obama created with a stroke of the pen in 2016 over the protests of the fishing community.
The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument spans nearly 5,000 square miles 150 miles off Cape Cod, and it was hailed by environmentalists for preserving enormous underwater mountains and vast, deep canyons only now being explored.
Three years earlier, an underwater remotely-operated vehicle sent back pictures of incredible life forms and geological features.
“These images, shared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, demonstrated to the world that this bit of the Atlantic was an ecological hot spot, a veritable underwater Serengeti,” said the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The NRDC was among the leaders of many organizations that jumped at the opportunity to preserve the monument against human activity, fishing in particular.