The closed areas in the Gulf of Mexico included the only areas in the
western hemisphere were Atlantic bluefin tuna were known, with certainty, to
spawn.
In opening the areas, NMFS argued that regulations put in
place in 2015 were adequate to control bluefin bycatch, and that in an effort
to reduce the “regulatory burden” and give longliners a greater opportunity to
fill their entire swordfish quota, the closed areas should be abolished—although
NMFS reserved the right to close them again should bycatch get too high.
NMFS’ justification for the reopening contradicted statements that the agency
itself made when the closed areas were created, which suggested both that they
were needed to protect bluefin and that they wouldn’t significantly impact
longliners’ swordfish catch. It's most recent statements were
not supported by any substantial body of verifiable data. Yet the areas were opened anyway.
The area in question is known as the
Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, which was created by
President Barak Obama on September 15, 2016. In creating the monument, President Obama noted,
“In these waters, the Atlantic Ocean meets the continental
shelf in a region of great abundance and diversity as well as stark geological
relief. The waters are home to many species
of deep-sea corals, fish, whales and other marine mammals. Three submarine canyons and, beyond them,
four undersea mountains lie in the waters approximately 130 miles southeast of
Cape Cod. This area (the canyon and
seamount area) includes unique ecological resources that have long been the
subject of scientific interest.
“…The canyons start at the edge of the geological continental
shelf and drop from 200 meters to thousands of meters deep. The seamounts are farther off shore, at the
start of the New England Seamount chain, rising thousands of meters from the
ocean floor. These canyons and seamounts
are home to at least 54 species of deep-sea corals, which live at depths of at
least 3,900 meters below the sea surface.
The corals, together with other structure-forming fauna such as sponges
and anemones, create a foundation for vibrant deep-sea ecosystems, providing food,
spawning habitat, and shelter for an array of fish and invertebrate
species. These habitats are extremely
sensitive to disturbance from extractive activities.
“…[In the canyons,] major oceanographic features, such as
currents, temperature gradients, eddies, and fronts, occur on a large scale and
influence the distribution patterns of such highly migratory oceanic species as
tuna, billfish, and sharks. They provide
feeding grounds for these and many other marine species.
“Toothed whales, such as the endangered sperm whale, and many
species of beaked whales are strongly attracted to the environments created by submarine
canyons. Surveys of the area show significantly
higher numbers of beaked whales present in canyon regions than in non-canyon
shelf-edge regions…
“Geographically isolated from the continental platform, [the]
seamounts support highly diverse ecological communities with deep-sea corals
that are hundreds or thousands of years old and a wide array of other benthic
marine organisms not found on the surrounding deep-sea floor. They
provide shelter from predators, increased food, nurseries, and feeding
areas. The New England seamounts have
many rare and endemic species, several of which are new to science and are not
known to live anywhere else on Earth…”
In other words, it’s not just about fish.
The New England Canyons and Seamounts marine
monument is a rare and special place, with ecosystems vulnerable to damage from
human activity that, once destroyed, cannot be replaced, or found anywhere else
in the world.
It’s a place that’s worth special protections.
And those protections don’t come at much of a cost. 5,000 square miles sounds like a big piece of
ocean, but amounts
to just 1.5 percent of all federal waters on the U.S. East Coast. Located nearly 150 miles from the closest
land, only the bigger trawlers, pelagic longliners and offshore lobster and
crab boats are likely to fish it, and there
is no evidence that such long-ranged operations suffered any significant financial harm as
a result of the monument’s creation.
Nonetheless, Trump has decided to reopen the monument to
commercial fishing, saying that
“following further consideration of the nature of the objects
identified in [President Obama’s proclamation creating the monument] and the
protection of those objects already provided by relevant law, I find that
appropriately managed commercial fishing would not put the objects of
scientific and historic interest that the monument protects at risk…
“With respect to fish in particular, many of the fish species
that [President Obama’s proclamation] identifies are highly migratory and not
unique to the monument. Some of the
examples of fish species that [such proclamation] identifies are not of such
significant scientific interest that they merit additional protection beyond
that already provided by other law.
Moreover, the fish species described in [the proclamation] are subject
to Federal protections under existing laws and agency management decisions. For example, Magnuson-Stevens regulates
commercial fishing to assure long-term biological and economic sustainability
for our Nation’s marine fisheries, taking into account the protection of
associated marine ecosystems…
“After further consideration of the nature of the objects
identified in [President Obama’s proclamation] and the protection of those
objects already provided by Magnuson-Stevens and other relevant law, I find
that a prohibition on commercial fishing is not, at this time, necessary for the
proper care and management of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine
National Monument, or the objects of historic or scientific interest therein…”
There is more than a little irony in Trump announcing, from
a platform in Maine, that the provisions of Magnuson-Stevens were sufficient to
protect the national monument, when that state’s groundfish, and the commercial
fishery that once pursued them, has been devastated by Magnuson-Stevens’ inability
to protect the fish stocks of the Gulf of Maine.
It’s not that Magnuson-Stevens is a bad law—I am a
strong MSA supporter—but the plain truth is that to work, Magnuson-Stevens
requires the support of concerned and forward-looking regional fishery
management councils, while the New England Fishery Management Council, which
would have oversight of some of the marine monument’s fisheries, has historically been
one of the most-backward looking, and arguably the most ineffective, regional
fishery management council in the nation.
While it’s true that pelagic longlining for highly migratory
species within the marine monument would cause no lasting harm to the Northeast
Canyons and Seamounts ecosystem, at least so long as no gear was lost and
settled to the ocean floor, it’s also true that it would result in bycatch of
and harm to protected species, which are not receiving adequate protection anywhere
along the U.S. coast.
Yet, while longlines might not cause long-term habitat
damage, the fixed gear used by lobster and crab fishermen, as well as whatever
bottom trawls might be deployed in the canyon region, can do long-lasting harm
to deep-sea corals and other benthic communities, which
grow so slowly that their lives of some can be measured in the thousands of
years. The lines
that stretch from surface buoys to crab and lobster traps on the ocean bottom
also pose an entanglement threat to the critically endangered right whale,
which can be found within the marine monument.
And the saddest thing about the decision to allow commercial
fishing in the national monument is that it is unlikely to do anyone, except
for a few of the larger and better-capitalized fishing companies, much good at
all.
“The President’s decision today to roll back the Northeast
Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument designation won’t improve the
prospects for our fishermen a fraction as much as reconsidering the tariffs
that have wiped out years of time, toil, and energy invested by our seafood
industry in developing new markets around the globe…”
“President Trump spent much of his roundtable saying that he
could fix trade policies that have hurt Maine fishermen with a stroke of a pen,
but it is his failed trade policies that caused China to retaliate with a
lobster tariff…This move will not provide economic benefits to the fishing
industry at a time when markets have been lost, the global supply chain is in
shambles, and boats are tied up at the dock.”
“…At a time when Maine fishermen are badly hurting, the
President had an opportunity to acknowledge and address their very real and
significant concerns—many of which are the direct result of the administration’s
harmful policies.
“Rolling back a national monument 35 [sic] miles southeast
of Cape Cod—one that is currently open to commercial fishing according to NOAA—is
not going to help the vast majority of Maine fishermen feed their
families. It will not help them pay
their mortgage or rent. It will not
support an industry that is struggling under the massive weight of an
unprecedented pandemic and misguided Federal policies.
“What Maine fishermen need from this President is a better
trade policy from his Administration, not misguided plans for retaliatory
tariffs which have been shown to do more harm than good. They also need more Federal financial
support, as I requested months ago…”
“Marine monument designations have the potential to be
counterproductive to achieving domestic fishery management goals.”
It was also lauded by persons such as Jon
Williams, owner of the Massachusetts-based Atlantic Red Crab Company, who said
that
“We appreciate that he’s paying attention to New England fisheries.”
Trump's proclamation also undoubtedly pleased members of various commercial
fishing organizations that filed, but ultimately lost, a federal lawsuit
challenging the marine monument’s creation.
It’s likely that the courts will also have the final word
with respect to Trump’s latest action. onservation groups have already spoken out against it and have clearly
stated their intent to sue.
“Once again, President Trump is moving to strip protections
for our nation’s public lands and waters and hand them over to industry for
private profit.
“Those fragile, extraordinary ocean areas are full of
thousand-year-old corals, endangered whales, and other precious marine
life. They belong to all Americans, and
they are held in trust for future generations…
“We are prepared to sue the Trump Administration to protect
these marine treasures from harm and exploitation by commercial fishing and
other extractive industries.”
The
New England-based Conservation Law Foundation has also expressed its intent to
take legal action to counter Trump’s action. Earthjustice,
which specializes in environmental litigation, suggested a similar intent when
it wrote
“As Earthjustice attorneys work in court to defend national
monuments across the country, you are an important part of giving voice to the
Northeast Canyons and Seamounts.”
In that vein, I’ll close with comments
from Oceana, another marine conservation group, which probably provide a
foretaste of what we’ll see next.
“This assault on our oceans joins the administration’s almost-daily
actions to dismantle environmental protections for our nation’s air, water,
oceans, historic treasures and wildlife—and to shut down public participation
in decisions by our federal government.
Another political attack on our environment will put the longevity of
productive fisheries at stake. Unless
this action is reversed immediately Oceana will make sure that President Trump’s
proclamation will not go unchecked.”
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