From our main site: First Marine National Monument in the Atlantic Ocean

This piece, carried on our network front page, Renewable Now.biz, is a small piece of our national dialogue on how to protect natural resources while allowing industries to continue to flourish.

Here, fisherman are upset with President Obama for setting up protected ocean areas.  They feel a treat to their jobs and earnings.  Yet, every industry faces restrictions, lose revenue and income from mounting regulations that look to protect the environment--trucking co's, airlines, fossil fuel providers, insurance companies--all grappling with a new business reality.  Commerce and ecology are crashing against each other on every playing field.

We have no choice--we need to protect our  eco-capitol.  Balance is key.  This designation by President Obama is much needed. Ultimately, protecting oceans, rivers, all assets and making sure they are properly shared and preserved is the greatest economic investment we can make.

Last week, President Obama designated the first marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean, protecting fragile deep-sea ecosystems off the coast of New England as the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. The new national monument – which encompasses pristine underwater mountains and canyons – will provide critical protections for important ecological resources and marine species, including deep-sea coral and endangered whales and sea turtles.

While this announcement is a move we support, we also realize that for many in the New England area the designation is not without controversy particularly within the the fishing industry where many in the the area depend on for their living.

“We’ve been fishing out there for 35 years. It’s a big blow to us,” said Jon Williams, president of the Atlantic Red Crab Company in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

We also find the location and the timing of the designation very interesting considering the vicinity to the very first Off-Shore Wind Turbine project in the Americas, Deepwater Wind, which is now very close to completion. Is this just a coincidence, or is there a bigger plan in the works?

Last week’s action follows President Obama’s decision last month to expand the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument off the coast of Hawaii by 442,781 square miles, creating the world’s largest marine protected area. These actions reflect President Obama’s commitment to the goals of combatting climate change and protecting our ocean, in a way that respects local communities, economies and native practices.

By permanently protecting these resources and reducing other threats to their respective ecosystems, these actions will also improve ocean resilience in the face of climate change, and help to sustain the ocean ecosystems and fishing economies in these regions for the long run.  These priorities are also reflected in the President's budget where the Administration continues to call on Congress to grow our investment in ocean research and support dedicated programs that build coastal community and marine ecosystem resilience in the face of climate change.

Beyond the important impact of these actions for all Americans, U.S. leadership is yielding dividends globally. Thanks in part to the strong example set by President Obama and the United States, more than twenty countries attending this week’s Our Ocean Conference will announce the creation of 40 significant new marine protected areas, totaling nearly 460,000 square miles of ocean. When combined with the Papahānaumokuākea expansion, the nations of the world have protected more than 900,000 square miles of ocean in 2016, exceeding last year’s record of more than 730,000 square miles.

Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument

Last week’s designation will protect 4,913 square miles of marine ecosystems with unique geological features that have been the subject of scientific exploration and discovery since the 1970s. These features include three underwater canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon, and four underwater mountains known as “seamounts” that are biodiversity hotspots and home to many rare and endangered species.  Scientific expeditions to this region have yielded new discoveries including species of coral found nowhere else on Earth and other rare fish and invertebrates. Additionally, the canyons and seamounts provide habitat for protected species such as sea turtles and marine mammals, including endangered sperm, fin, and sei whales and Kemp’s ridley turtles.  The newly protected marine area in the Northeast will be jointly managed by the Department of Commerce and the Department of the Interior.

According to a study released earlier this year by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), ocean temperatures in the Northeast are projected to warm close to three times faster than the global average. Additionally, the first of several assessments to analyze the impacts of climate change on fish stocks and fishing-dependent communities, found that warming oceans are threatening the majority of fish species in the region including salmon, lobster, and scallops. In September 2015, 145 prominent marine scientists wrote a public letter voicing their conclusion that the threats to the unique marine environment in this region warranted permanent protection to preserve intact ecosystems. Today’s designation will help build the resilience of that unique ecosystem, provide a refuge for at-risk species, and create natural laboratories for scientists to monitor and explore the impacts of climate change.

Source provided by Whitehouse Press Office

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