PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 23, 2025
19 years ago, Jean-Michel Cousteau persuaded President George W. Bush to set aside 140,000 square miles of Pacific Ocean as critical marine sanctuary while phasing out commercial fishing. Barack Obama and Joe Biden followed suit — the former expanding fivefold the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument while the latter restored restrictions Donald Trump had overturned. Another Obama contribution, the New England Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, hasn’t harmed the fishers, with Maine’s boats having netted $700 million-plus in 2024. For Trump, it’s a no-brainer to revert to practices that cause the depletion of commercially critical stocks. Marine monuments and sanctuaries cover small critical parts of the world’s oceans, and the denizens there need protection if enough of them are to wind up on our tables. ~ Neil Cote, Saco