An environmental advocacy group is filing a lawsuit in federal court, challenging President Trump’s decision to open nearly 5,000-square-miles of protected ocean to new commercial fishing.Trump rolled back protections for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument earlier this month. Opponents argue that Trump’s decision was unlawful – that only Congress has that authority.
Brad Campbell is the president of the Conservation Law Foundation, the group filing the lawsuit. "President Trump has treated these protections as simply another nuisance that he can sweep away with the stroke of a pen. We're going to court to show that he doesn't have that power."
President Barack Obama established the monument in 2016.
WBUR's Barbara Moran reported this story for the New England News Collaborative.