President Biden restored protections from commercial fishing to the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in a ceremony at the White House today. The Monument, originally designated by President Obama in 2016, is home to a tremendous diversity of marine wildlife, from the surface waters with whales and seabirds, into the deep sea with otherworldly fish and deep sea corals. Located 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod, the area includes a spectacular subsea landscape with three submarine canyons and four seamounts. The area was protected from all commercial extraction until President Trump reversed the protections from commercial scale fishing. Research Professor Emeritus Peter Auster, who also holds an appointment as a Senior Research Scientist at Mystic Aquarium, along with colleagues at New England Aquarium, conducted the research demonstrating the conservation value of the area that led to the initial designation as well as a subsequent study of the threats inherent to marine wildlife from fishing. The action by the President restores the only fully protected area in the US waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/10/07/bears-ears-biden-monument/

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