A federal appeals court has upheld former President Barack Obama’s designation of a huge network of undersea canyons and mountains the size of Connecticut in waters about 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod as a national monument that’s off-limits for commercial purposes.
As a result of Obama’s Presidential Proclamation 9496, commercial fishing and other resource extraction activities are prohibited within the monument boundaries. Effective in 2023, red crab and American lobster commercial fishing also will be prohibited.
