New England Fishermen Challenge Obama’s Marine National Monument

PLF’s Harold Johnson interviews PLF attorney Jonathan Wood and Beth Casoni of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association. Casoni is one Wood’s several clients in the fishing industry that is challenging the Obama Administrations use of the Antiquities Act to designate vast swaths of ocean as a national monument.

“By declaring over 5,000 square miles of ocean — an area the size of Connecticut — to be a national monument, President Obama set this entire area off-limits to most fishing immediately, with what remains of fishing opportunities to be phased out over the next few years,” said PLF attorney Jonathan Wood. “This illegal, unilateral presidential action threatens economic distress for individuals and families who make their living through fishing, and for New England communities that rely on a vibrant fishing industry.”