Shitstain On Atlantic Marine Monument He Just Eliminated: "A Terrible Thing"

[hatrack]

EDIT

Trump’s public announcement at an event in Bangor, Maine, failed to recognize the scope or value of the monument. “What reason did [Obama] have for closing 5,000 miles,” Trump said. “That’s a lot of miles. Five thousand square miles is a lot.” The statement ignored the fact that President George W. Bush protected an even larger ocean area in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. “He didn’t have a reason, in my opinion,” Trump continued. “For me, I can’t even believe they can do a thing like that. That’s a terrible thing. That’s a terrible thing.”

But there is a reason: Fishing restrictions were put in place in the monument to protect the many fascinating and threatened species that call these waters home. We don’t really know exactly how badly this change will hurt those species, though, because this decision is unprecedented — no one in U.S. history has ever done so much to un-protect protected areas.

It’s also on uncertain legal ground, as many experts say the move — similar to Trump’s removal of protections at Bears Ears and Grand Staircase national monuments — may even be illegal. Of course the removal of protections — which some experts call one of the most anti-conservation efforts in human history — happened as part of a discussion that included the president boastfully and incorrectly claiming that “I’m a big environmentalist.”

EDIT

There’s no doubt that the U.S. fishing industry is hurting now, as the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in making fishing more dangerous for crews working in close quarters, similar to what’s happening in meat-packing plants on land. Meanwhile the pandemic has also sharply reduced demand for seafood. However, the establishment of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Monument does not appear to have influenced the fishing industry in any way. The problem facing U.S. fisheries isn’t lack of supply,” says Miriam Goldstein, director of ocean policy at the Center for American Progress. “The problem is there’s no one to buy it because most seafood is bought in restaurants. The administration’s own economic analysis found that there were no impacts to the monument and no benefits to the rollback of protections.”

EDIT

https://therevelator.org/northeast-canyons-monument/

[Mickju]

1. Donald Trump: Wrong on every issue.