An economic study failed to find any real impact on commercial fisheries from creation of Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument/NOAA

President Obama's designation of Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument in the Atlantic Ocean had no real evident impact on commercial fisheries, according to an examination of catches before, during, and after establishment of the monument.

President Trump in June 2020 flew to Maine to criticize his predecessor's designation of the monument under The Antiquities Act and to remove its ban on commercial fishing in the monument, telling a small gathering of lobstermen, crabbers and commercial fishing interests that, "[Y]ou've been treated very badly. They've regulated you out of business."

But a study conducted by John Lynham, an economics professor at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, found the monument had no great impact on commercial fishing in the area located about 130 miles off the Cape Cod coast.

"I conclude that the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument caused little if any disruption to the squid/butterfish, mackerel, and tuna fisheries. Likewise, reopening the monument provided little tangible economic benefits to these fisheries," wrote Lynham, whose research, funded through a grant from the Natural Resources Defense Council, was published in the January 18 edition of Scientific Reports.

The national monument encompasses a biologically robust area that became the Atlantic Ocean's first national monument when Obama established it in 2016.

According to the NOAA Fisheries, the nearly 5,000 square-mile monument "includes two distinct areas, one that covers three canyons and one that covers four seamounts. These undersea canyons and seamounts contain fragile and largely pristine deep marine ecosystems and rich biodiversity, including important deep sea corals, endangered whales and sea turtles, other marine mammals and numerous fish species."

The commercial fishing industry had challenged Obama's designation in court, but the judge ruled that the former president acted within his authority under The Antiquities Act in designating the monument. 

When Obama established the monument, then-Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said the designation would "help protect the unique geology and biodiversity of these important underwater features and wildlife species that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. This critical marine area, which serves as important habitat for pelagic fish species, corals, whales, sea turtles, sea birds and other species, will now be protected and preserved for future generations, serving as an important natural laboratory for research and enhanced understanding of the impacts of climate change on our oceans.”

But in 2017, then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, after a review of national monuments designated by Presidents Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama, recommended that commercial fishing be allowed in Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument.

At the National Resources Defense Council, Brad Sewell, the group's senior director of Oceans, at the time said Trump was removing some of the monument's protections to allow industry to profit from the resources.

“These fragile, extraordinary ocean areas are full of thousand-year-old corals, endangered whales, and other precious marine life. They belong to all Americans, and they are held in trust for future generations," he said. “A significant change to the monument or its protections — such as allowing commercial fishing — must be done by Congress, not by the president. The Antiquities Act gives the president power to protect special areas for future generations, not the opposite power to abolish those protections. Fishing poses a range of threats, such as harm to deep-sea corals from heavy fishing gear, and entanglement of bycatch and marine mammals."

In searching for impacts to commercial fisheries, Lyhman looked at annual catches for squid/butterfish, mackerel, and Atlantic tuna, through 2020 from the North Atlantic region, Mid Atlantic region, and South Atlantic region, as well as vessel-tracking data provided by Global Fishing Watch. The data included 17.5 million observations of fishing vessels in the three regions.

From the data Lynham concluded that not only didn't the monument's closure to commercial fishing carry an economic impact, but that Trump's reopening of the fishery did not provide an economic boost to commercial fisherman. He also looked for but failed to find a "Blue Paradox," in which the expectation that Obama would designate the monument would prompt a "race-to-fish that undermines the intended conservation objectives of the reserve."

"What is unique about this particular setting is that I am able to observe fishing activity before the announcement of an [marine protected area], after the announcement but before closure, after closure, and after re-opening," the professor pointed out. 

"I have four main findings. First, only a small fraction (less than 1 percent) of historical fishing grounds for the fisheries analyzed were lost due to the monument. More than 99 percent of the locations that vessels used before the monument was created were still open to fishing after it was created," wrote Lynham in his paper. "Second, catch does not appear to have declined in the three fisheries following the creation of the monument. Pounds landed have not gone down for squid, butterfish, mackerel, and tuna/swordfish in correlation with the fishing prohibition, especially when compared to adjacent regions with landings for the same species. Third, none of the potentially impacted fleets were forced to travel further to fish after the monument was closed to fishing. Fourth, the absence of impacts of closing the monument are mirrored by the absence of impacts of re-opening the monument. I do not observe an increase in catch, a reduction in distance traveled, or an increase in relative fishing effort inside the monument (compared to historical trends) for any of the fisheries.

"On average, since reopening, 99 percent or more of fishing activity is still taking place outside the monument," he added. "The economic arguments made against the 2016 commercial fishing prohibition and in favor of the 2020 re-opening do not appear to be supported by data on landings and vessel movements."

In noting that the research was funded by NRDC, which supported designation of the monument, Lynham pointed out that, "[T]he funder did not play any role in the study design, data collection, or analysis performed in this paper. The funder played a role in the conceptualization of the research project, reviewed an earlier copy of the paper, and provided feedback."