FILE – This undated file photo released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration made during the Northeast U.S. Canyons Expedition 2013, shows corals on Mytilus Seamount off the coast of New England in the North Atlantic Ocean. In the final months of President Barack Obama’s term in 2016, conservationists are hoping he’ll protect an underwater mountain and offshore ecosystem in the Gulf of Maine known as Cashes Ledge. (NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research via AP, File)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Environmental conservationists aren’t giving up on trying to persuade the White House to designate an area in the Gulf of Maine as a national monument.
They’re hoping President Barack Obama in the final months of his term will protect an underwater mountain and offshore ecosystem in the Gulf of Maine known as Cashes Ledge. They also want him to protect a chain of undersea formations about 150 miles off the coast of Massachusetts known as the New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts.
A White House council says the canyons and seamounts area is under consideration but Cashes Ledge isn’t.
There are no marine national monuments in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Conservation Law Foundation, which has been leading the Cashes Ledge effort, is continuing its campaign.
Commercial fishing groups oppose creating monuments in the Atlantic.
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