Court upholds creation of national monument in Atlantic Ocean

Associated Press

12/27/2019

FISHING GROUPS had filed a lawsuit to stop the creation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, and a federal appeals court has upheld an earlier decision by a federal judge to dismiss the case. PBN FILE PHOTO/JOHN LEE — FISHING GROUPS had filed a lawsuit to stop the creation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, and a federal appeals court has upheld an earlier decision by a federal judge to dismiss the case. / PBN FILE PHOTO/JOHN LEE

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – A federal appeals court on Friday upheld former President Barack Obama's designation of a federally protected conservation area in the Atlantic Ocean, a move that commercial fishermen oppose. Fishing groups sued over the creation of Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, a 5,000-square-mile area that contains fragile deep sea corals and…