August 5, 2026 — Two New England fishermen have asked a federal court to allow them to intervene in an ongoing lawsuit over commercial fishing access within the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, adding another chapter to the years-long legal dispute over the protected Atlantic waters.
According to a July 31 press release from Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), fishermen Frank Green of New York and Bob Conrad of Vermont filed a motion to intervene in Conservation Law Foundation v. Trump. Represented by PLF, the fishermen are seeking to defend the Trump administration’s decision to rescind the commercial fishing ban within the monument and argue that the ban was unlawfully established under the Antiquities Act.
“Presidents have abused their power under the Antiquities Act for decades, drastically exceeding its narrow scope and disregarding Congress to restrict Americans’ right to productively use natural resources,” PLF attorney Frank Garrison said in the release. “The fishermen who work those waters shouldn’t have their livelihoods threatened by unilateral presidential decree.”