An appeals court has upheld the creation of a federally protected area in the Atlantic Ocean.

Fishing groups sued over former President Barack Obama’s creation of Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in 2016.

The monument comprises a 5,000-square-mile area that contains fragile deep sea corals and vulnerable species of marine life, such as right whales.

Last year, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, and the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the decision Friday.