Around New England

Trump Opens 5,000 Square Miles of Ocean To New England Fishermen

June 9, 2020

President Donald Trump opened up nearly 5,000 square miles of ocean off the coast of New England to fisherman late last week.

Trump reversed the Obama administration’s decision in 2016 that established the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument about 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod and barred fishermen from fishing the area. Former Maine Governor Paul LePage attended the roundtable talk with the president when he announced the decision Friday, June 5, according to Common Dreams, a news web site headquartered in Portland, Maine.

Trump criticized his predecessor, former president Barack Obama.

“What reason did he have for closing 5,000 miles?” Trump said at the press conference, according to the White House. “That’s a lot of miles. Five thousand square miles is a lot. He didn’t have a reason, in my opinion.”

The move is expected to help the fishing industry, while critics say it threatens endangered species.