May 5, 2026 — Green groups and an ocean conservationist have sued the Trump administration over its attempt to open a 3.1-million-acre national monument off the coast of Cape Cod to commercial fishing.
President Donald Trump’s proclamation would jeopardize endangered whales, vulnerable corals and other delicate species and ecosystems protected by the Atlantic Ocean’s first and only marine national monument, the groups said in a statement announcing their lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Washington.
“Northeast Canyons and Seamounts is a living scientific laboratory and a refuge for species as varied as cold-water corals and sperm whales. Only the Trump administration would think it makes sense to open it up to damage and harm from commercial fishing,” said Devon Flanagan, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “That decision is clearly unlawful, and we will be fighting it in court until we win.”