First U.S. ocean monument named in the Atlantic
President Obama designates pristine area to protect sea life off New England coast
A stretch of ocean off the coast of Cape Cod more than four times the size of Rhode Island has become the first U.S. marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean.
President Barack Obama formally announced the new 12,725-square-kilometer monument, called the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, September 15 at the Our Ocean Conference in Washington, D.C. This designation will help protect the region’s fragile deep-sea ecosystem, which includes whales, sea turtles and corals, by gradually phasing out commercial fishing, including for crab and lobster, Obama said.