On 15 September 2016 President Obama designated the first US Marine National Monument encompassing 4913 square miles in the Atlantic Ocean, 130 miles south of Cape Cod. Beginning in November 2016, all commercial fishing except for lobstering and crabbing will be banned in the area; total fishing ban to follow in 7 years.
Key points:
Environmentalists say:
- Protecting these ecosystems will make the ocean more resilient to climate change.
- Fishermen overstate the importance of the area for fishing, and “…closure would result in negligible [fishing] effort displacement, if any…”
- Protecting the area will ultimately benefit fishermen by improving the health of surrounding fisheries.
Fishermen say:
- Decades of commercial fishing haven’t harmed the ecosystem.
- The Obama Administration has ignored their recommendations for compromise solutions.
- Closure prevents access to the main source of red crab in New England, and will effectively end this fishery.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker said in a statement that his administration is “deeply disappointed” by the national-monument designation.
Unfortunately, this National Monument – unlike the new one in Maine, which might draw a few out-of-staters – arguably has zero value as a tourist attraction, now or in the foreseeable future. And there’s no practicable way to prove the environmentalists wrong, or to press for compromise solutions. Because there’s no organization of fishermen with pockets deep enough to do the necessary research put up an effective legal fight. Accordingly, other than possible long-term environmental benefits, there's no economic offset for whatever losses the fishing industry will be taking. High-handed actions like this from Brussels are what drove the British to Brexit.
