Trump Opens A Protected Area In The Atlantic Ocean To Commercial Fishing

United States President Donald Trump has decided to open 5000 square miles of a protected area of the Atlantic Ocean to commercial fishing. 

The measure, signed last Friday, could further endanger hundreds of endangered species and destroy the ecosystem off the coast of New England. 

  

The area had been declared a protected area by the previous administration, which established the Northeast Canyon and Seamounts Marine National Monument in 2016 to protect endangered species and their ecosystem from human intrusions. 

  

Trump decided to put economic interests before environmental protection, eliminating the ban on fishing in the area during a meeting with fishermen. 

  

A decision that raised several controversies among environmental associations, as millenary corals, endangered whales and other endangered species are present in the area. 

“Opening the only marine national monument in the Atlantic will help no one but a handful of fishermen, risking irreparable damage to marine fauna which has no other fully protected areas off our east coast. 

Ancient slow-growing coral in deep water, large whales and endangered sea turtles and an incredible variety of fish, seabirds, sharks, dolphins and other wild animals: these are the species and habitats that will pay the price. " commented Bob Dreher, senior vice president of the Conservation Program at Defenders of Wildlife. 

Trump just opened up a marine sanctuary to commercial fishing, undermining protections for endangered whales, sea turtles, sharks and coral.

In the middle of national crises, Trump is quietly putting hundreds of species at risk.https://t.co/VGFUoNrf4V

— Friends of the Earth (@foe_us) June 6, 2020

  

Brad Sewell, senior director of the oceans for the Defense Council of Natural Resources (NRDC), said he was concerned about the go-ahead for commercial fishing in the area as it poses a series of threats, including damage to heavy fishing gear to corals. deep water and tangling of mammals to fishing nets. 

  

Sewell has made it known that the NRDC is ready to take legal action against the Trump administration to "protect these marine treasures from the damage and exploitation of commercial fishing and other extractive industries ".

sources: New York Times / Defenders of Wildlife    via Greenme