Kelly Kryc, Ph.D., New England Aquarium’s Director of Ocean Policy, will join us to discuss President Trump’s recent proclamation regarding the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. On June 5, President Trump visited Maine and convened a commercial fishing roundtable where he signed a proclamation to open the monument to commercial fishing—an action highly unlikely to benefit Maine's fishing community. Spanning nearly 5,000 square miles, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument comprises three deep-sea canyons and four ancient, underwater volcanoes that anchor a deep-sea habitat rich in life important to New England. Recently published science affirms the monument as a highly interconnected biological hotspot with great potential for scientific discovery. The beauty of the underwater landscape, coupled with its rich marine ecosystem, mark the monument as an important piece of our country’s natural heritage that we must do our best to preserve and protect. Join Kelly to learn more about this remarkable underwater seascape and why it’s just as important to protect special places in the ocean as it is on land.
