JUNE 15,
2019
by
Patrick Whittle
The
National Audubon Society is getting involved in a lawsuit over the future of a
national monument in the ocean off New England because of the area's importance
to seabirds, especially colorfully beaked puffins.
Fishing
groups sued in federal
court against creation of Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine
National Monument, which former President Barack Obama designated in 2016. The
case is on appeal. Court documents show Audubon has moved to file a
friend-of-the-court brief in favour of keeping the monument.
Lawyers
for the fishing groups have said the monument was illegally created by Obama
using the Antiquities Act. The groups include fishermen, such as lobstermen and
crabbers who contend the creation of the monument has created an unfair
hardship for them because it restricts where they can fish.
But the
nearly 5,000-square-mile area is especially important to Maine's vulnerable
Atlantic puffins, said Karen Hyun, vice president of coasts for Audubon.
Protecting the monument area from commercial fishing will
help provide the birds with a reliable food source, she said.
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