June 21, 2021 — A couple years ago, the fight over the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was all the rage.
The monument, created in 2016 by President Barack Obama, preserved about 3.2 million acres southeast of Cape Ann and about 130 miles off Cape Cod from commercial activities of all manner — including fishing. Lobster and crab harvesters were being phased out over seven years. It protected three underwater canyons, four seamounts and the surrounding resources and ecosystems.
Obama’s presidential successor, Donald Trump, did his best to gut the monument’s designation and protections during his term.
Last year, Trump reopened the area to commercial fishing and removed most of the monument’s protections. The fishing industry was ecstatic. Environmentalists were aghast. The fish had no comment.
And now the battle is rejoined.
The Biden administration, according to several reports last week, is moving in the direction of reinstating full protections to the Canyon and Seamounts and two other land-based national monuments in Utah.
According to a report in the Washington Post, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland “recommended in a confidential report that President Biden restore full protection for the three national monuments” diminished by Trump.