September 16, 2016 — GLOUCESTER, Mass. — President Obama has created the first marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean saying it’s an effort to protect the planet from climate change.
The president said the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument, located off George’s Bank, will help safeguard the oceans.
The monument consists of nearly 5,000 square miles including three underwater canyons and underwater mountains.
While the decision makes environmentalists happy, many fisherman said the announcement is deeply disappointing.
“People have made business plans to use this area and then all of a sudden the rug is getting pulled out from under them,” commercial fisherman Al Cottone told FOX25. “How do you plan for the future when you can be basically be shut down with a stroke of the pen?”
The head of the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership and Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association said these farmers can’t just pick up and move their operation.
“The ocean is huge but fish are not everywhere. Fish live in designated area by nature. Just like we live,” Angela Sanfilippo said.