PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – The Supreme Court rejected an appeal from a fishing group that challenged the creation of a large federally protected area in the Atlantic Ocean. The group sued to eliminate the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, which became the first national ocean monument in the Atlantic when President Obama created it in 2016. The area is 5,000 square miles off New England and home to fragile deep-sea corals.
The fishermen sued in federal court, saying establishing a protected zone where they have historically fished for lobsters and crabs could hurt their livelihoods. Federal district and appellate courts ruled that the monument was created appropriately by Obama, who used the Antiquities Act to establish it. The high court denied a request to take a look at the case. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that creating a national monument was “of no small consequence,” but the petitioners did not meet the criteria to bring it before the Supreme Court.
Roberts also wrote that the court has never considered how such a large monument can be justified under the Antiquities Act. President Theodore Roosevelt created more than a century ago to preserve artifacts like Native American ruins. Roberts wrote it’s possible the court could be presented with a better opportunity to consider that issue in the future. The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument at point, in this case, demonstrates how far we have come from indigenous pottery,” Roberts wrote.
The court‘s decision lets down the fishing group but also feels that Roberts’ statement signals others to bring similar cases and suggests the high court “will soon resurrect meaningful limits on the President’s monument-designation power. The creation of the monument has been controversial and politicized from the beginning. It became a campaign issue for President Donald Trump, who moved to allow commercial fishing in the area in 2020. Trump heralded the move as a win for Maine lobstermen, although the monument is located southeast of Rhode Island and Cape Cod.
Environmentalists cheered the Supreme Court‘s decision not to consider the drive against the monument. President Joe Biden signaled in January that he would ask the U.S. Department of the Interior to reassess Trump’s rule change. Conservation groups have long lobbied to preserve the memorial and other protected areas to save vulnerable underwater ecosystems. Restoring protections is essential to safeguarding its fragile biological resources from industrial exploitation, bolstering the ecosystem’s resiliency in the face of a changing climate, and safeguarding this special place for generations to come,” Kate Desormeau, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement.
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