MAINE PUBLIC • June 5, 2020
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation in Bangor on Friday that he says will undo most of the fishing restrictions President Barack Obama ordered for a 5,000-square-mile swath of submerged canyons and mountains off the Atlantic coast that’s prized for its biological diversity. Trump said he would take the “no fishing” sign down from the Monument’s waters. A legal battle is expected. Obama established the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in 2016. Obama actually provided a 7-year exemption for lobster and crab fishermen. There are no Maine vessels fishing now in the area.