A yellow "feather star" on one of the underwater mountains that makes up the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Photo: Credit: NOAA OKEANOS Explorer Program, 2013 Northeast U. S. Canyons Expedition
This is part of an occasional series examining how the Trump administration may alter environmental laws.
In 2020, President Trump rolled back protections of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. His administration opened it up to commercial fishing, endangering the area’s rare ancient corals, vibrant marine life, and vital habitats. We promptly sued to challenge President Trump’s authority to roll back protections in a monument designated by a prior president. When President Biden took office, he restored protections for Canyons and Seamounts.
Now, the incoming Trump administration is threatening to try it all over again. Project 2025 – widely seen as a blueprint for the Trump administration – promises to effectively dismantle the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and review all existing marine national monuments. Marine monuments are stretches of water with protections from threats like commercial fishing, oil and gas development, or mining. The government offers these protections due to the waters’ outstanding ecological, historical, scientific, educational, recreational, cultural, archeological, or esthetic significance.
Eliminating or gutting the protections for Northeast Canyons and Seamounts and protected areas like it would strike a devastating blow to our already imperiled ocean. You might not be able to stroll around a marine national monument the way that you can a national park, but beneath the ocean surface lies a landscape as rich and valuable as any on land.
Which leads to a question many of us have been asking ourselves about the Trump administration’s claims: Can they do that? Well, they can try. They probably will. But when they do, we’ll be ready to fight back – just like last time.
The irreplaceable treasures of Canyons and Seamounts
The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is too precious to put at risk. About 130 miles off the coast of New England, the deep-cutting canyons and steep slopes of the seamounts (underwater mountains) form a thriving habitat that’s considered a “keystone structure” for the marine ecosystem. This dynamic terrain provides many aquatic species, including sea turtles, Atlantic puffins, and more, with crucial spawning, breeding, and feeding grounds. Krill, a vital source of food for species like whales and dolphins, can form miles-long clusters in the canyons.
A single fishing trawl could destroy delicate, cold-water corals that take centuries to grow. Scientists estimate that they’ve only uncovered 47% of the biodiversity in this nearly 5,000 square mile region, and researchers discover new species every time we explore its largely uncharted depths. As the only marine national monument in the Atlantic, Northeast Canyons and Seamounts forms a vital reservoir of biodiversity off the East Coast.
The timing for an assault on the monument couldn’t be worse. Climate change is warming the Gulf of Maine faster than 97% of the world’s oceans. Protecting key habitats and reservoirs of biodiversity like the deep canyons and towering seamounts strengthens marine life’s ability to withstand these threats. We need more protected areas in our ocean, not fewer.
The future of marine protected areas
There’s a lot we don’t know about the future of Northeast Canyons and Seamount Marine National Monument. We don’t how the Trump administration will try to undermine or destroy it. We don’t know when the attack will come. We don’t know what the fight to preserve it will look like.
But if and when Trump tries again, we will fight back to protect this special place. Along with our partners and supporters who love our ocean, CLF will work tirelessly to protect Northeast Canyons and Seamounts and all of our precious waters from the Trump administration’s assaults. We’ve fought this fight before, we’ve won it before, and we’ll win it again.
