PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a fishing group that challenged the creation of a large federally protected area in the Atlantic Ocean. The group sued to try to get rid of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, which became the first national ocean monument in the Atlantic when President Barack Obama created it in 2016. The fishermen sued in federal court saying the establishment of a protected zone where they have historically fished for lobsters and crabs could hurt their livelihoods. The high court declined to consider the suit on Monday.
FILE – This undated file photo released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration made during the Northeast U.S. Canyons Expedition 2013, shows corals on Mytilus Seamount off the coast of New England in the North Atlantic Ocean before it was stablished by President Barack Obama in Sept. 15, 2016, as Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. (NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research via AP, File)
17163690064198
