Obama creates first marine national monument in Atlantic

It’s similar in objective – if not in size – to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument off the coast of Hawaii, which was first created by President Bush and then expanded last month by President Obama.

Speaking to representatives from dozens of countries gathered in Washington for the third annual Our Ocean conference, President Barack Obama said Thursday that it was urgent that leaders take swift, bold action to safeguard oceans around the globe. In the grand scheme of things, the waters near us may seem like a small patch, but beyond protecting valuable sea life, the decision may set a significant precedent worldwide: as the New York Times reported, White House officials expect around 20 other countries attending the morning’s conference to also announce their own protection of marine areas.

The delicately balanced ecosystem here can now thrive for generations to come, protected forever from the kinds of disturbances or activities that would destroy these fragile habitats or disrupt the area’s food chain. Commercial fishing for red crabs and American lobster will continue to be allowed for a grace period of seven years.

He argued that marine monuments like those in New England one, Hawaii and a proposed site off the coast of Monterey, Calif., are disastrous for the commercial fishing industry.

“This is deplorable”, said Grant Moore, president of the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association, in describing the designation.

“When we protect our lands, it helps us protect the climate of the future”, Obama said at a recent Lake Tahoe environmental summit.

Jon Williams, president of the Atlantic Red Crab Company in New Bedford, Massachusetts, said his company will survive, but the changes created to address some of the industry’s concerns don’t sway him about the merits of the monument.

The White House said the move comes after a meeting in Providence about a year ago and subsequent visits by senior administration officials to the region to meet with politicians and others. “It’s a big blow to us”.

Obama says. “We can not protect our planet without protecting our oceans”. It is his third national monument designation in the past month, following the creation of the Katahdin Woods and Waters monument in ME and the significant expansion of the Papahānaumokuākea marine monument northwest of Hawaii.

“I spent my childhood on those shores, looking out over the endless ocean, and was humbled by it”, Obama said.

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According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, the monument area’s underwater mountains are extinct volcanoes. The White House said the monument is home to protected species such as the sperm, fin and sei whales, and Kemp’s ridley turtles.

In total, the expedition found over 320 species in the canyons and 630 on the seamounts, though it is unlikely that scientists have mapped the full extent of these ecosystems.