ASSOCIATED PRESS • March 22, 2021
The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that it will not consider a fishing group’s attempt to challenge 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 area consists of 5,000 square miles off New England, and it is home to fragile deep-sea corals. 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. Federal district and appellate courts ruled that the monument was created appropriately.