page_title: Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association v. Ross
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association v. Ross / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument
context_page_description: Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association v. Ross is a United States District Court case in the District of Columbia in which the court determined whether or not a President may establish a marine national monument, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, under the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906. The case represents the first time that the President's authority to create an offshore marine monument under the Act was directly challenged in court. While the District Court upheld the President's authority to designate the monument under the authority bestowed by the Antiquities Act, the case was appealed to the D.C. Circuit and awaits further judicial review.
context_section_description: On September 15, 2016, President Obama issued a Presidential Proclamation creating the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. As the first marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean, it consists of approximately 4,913 square miles (12,724 square kilometers) and is located about 130 miles east-southeast of Cape Cod in an area of the ocean known as the United States’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
  The monument includes two distinct areas. The first area covers three underwater canyons—Oceanographer, Gilbert, and Lydonia—spanning roughly 941 square miles. The second area covers four distinct seamounts—Bear, Physalia, Retriever, and Mytilus—encompassing 3,972 square miles. Collectively, the monument is approximately the size of Connecticut.
  The canyons and seamounts are celebrated for their rich biological diversity. The steep slopes of the canyons and seamounts interact with oceanographic currents to create localized eddies, causing upwelling. The currents lift nutrients to surface waters, fueling an outburst of phytoplankton and zooplankton that form the base of the food chain. These plankton draw large schools of small fish, and those fish draw even larger predators such as whales, sharks, tunas and seabirds to the area. In all, “the geology, currents, and productivity create diverse and vibrant ecosystems.” As a result, the area has been the subject of “intense scientific interest” and discovery since the 1970s.
  President Obama's proclamation directs the Secretaries of Commerce and Interior to develop plans within three years for the “proper care and management” of the monument. Further, the proclamation prohibits oil, gas and mineral exploration, and most commercial fishing within the monument's boundaries.
  In response to the monument's designation, several commercial fishing associations filed a lawsuit against the federal government in March 2017. They claimed injury from the restrictions on commercial fishing, and sought declaratory and injunctive relief from the President, the Secretaries of Commerce and Interior, and the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality.
caption: Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument boundaries.
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