austere-krauss-423e21b49803e229.pdf

The document provides scientific justification for the permanent protection of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument (NECSMNM). It highlights the area's extreme habitat diversity, its role as a biodiversity hotspot for deep-sea corals, marine mammals, and mesopelagic fish, and its importance as a carbon sequestration site. The authors argue that the current boundaries are the smallest area necessary to protect these 'objects of scientific interest' and serve as a critical reference site for studying climate change and human impacts in the Atlantic.

• The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument (NECSMNM) is characterized by extremely high habitat diversity and biodiversity hotspots, including deep-sea corals, sponges, and rare species such as xenophyophores and cold seep fauna.
• The region is a critical habitat for a high diversity of marine mammals, including at least 10 dolphin species, 7 large whale species, and 6 medium whale species, with beaked whales recorded at depths of 2745 m.
• The monument facilitates global carbon sequestration through an oceanographic 'pump' involving the vertical migration of mesopelagic fish and the transport of nutrients from the surface to the deep sea.
• The NECSMNM serves as a vital control reference area for assessing the impacts of regional climate change, particularly as the waters of New England and the Canadian Maritimes are warming faster than any other Atlantic region.
• Commercial fishing poses significant risks to the area's ecological resilience, with potential for long-term damage to deep-sea corals that could take thousands of years to recover.
• The current boundaries are necessary to create an entanglement-free and bycatch-free zone for vulnerable species, including ESA-listed leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles and the Western North Atlantic stock of long-finned pilot whales.
• The monument protects the seafloor from emerging threats of deep-sea mining for methane hydrates and manganese crusts.

APA

Earthjustice (2017). austere-krauss-423e21b49803e229.pdf. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/austere-krauss.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. austere-krauss-423e21b49803e229.pdf. 2017. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/austere-krauss.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Earthjustice |title=austere-krauss-423e21b49803e229.pdf |date=July 2017 |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/austere-krauss.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{earthjustice2017austerekrauss423e21b49803e229pdf, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{austere-krauss-423e21b49803e229.pdf}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {2017}, month = jul, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/austere-krauss.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }