September 1, 2015 — Gov. Paul LePage has written to President Obama opposing a move to protect Cashes Ledge, an area in the Gulf of Maine about 75 miles off the coast of Wells, which the governor says will hurt business.
According to the letter released by the governor’s office, LePage has heard that the White House is “actively exploring” new areas including Cashes Ledge and other underseas canyons in the Gulf of Maine for national monument status, and he says he wanted to voice his opposition to both the project itself and the process of selecting national monuments.
“These National Monuments serve only one purpose – excluding commercial fishing activity from certain segments of the ocean,” Gov. LePage wrote in his letter, saying that the regulations would hurt offshore lobstermen. “These types of designa- tions harm working Mainers the most.”
Cashes Ledge is a submarine mountain range located in the center of the Gulf of Maine that peaks near the surface of the water, making it dangerous for fisherman according to the Smithsonian. In April 24, The Associated Press reported that fishing regulators from the New England Fishery Management Council, or NEFMC, voted to keep a 2002 ban in the area on commercial fishing in place in the near future.
Gov. LePage wrote that he saw that the national monument process as a last ditch effort by environmentalists to close additional areas after the NEFMC ended its policy revision in April.
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