deep sea mining
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A major review of 50 years of data warning that deep-sea mining could cause long-lasting damage to Pacific marine ecosystems has reinforced the Cook Islands' cautious approach to seabed minerals exploration, according to Seabed Minerals Authority (SBMA) commissioner...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Governor Pulaali’i Nikolau Pula has established the Deep-Sea Minerals Steering Committee, according to a letter posted on a social media site by sabrinakelani. The letter is addressed to Cabinet Members, signed by the governor, and is dated May 7, 2026.
Samoa News was...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The leaders of the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Guam are seeking a moratorium on deep-sea mining in the Marianas.
CNMI governor David Apatang and Guam governor Lou Leon Guerrero also want to see refroms at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A message posted on social media is criticizing the grant award that the Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior Katherine MacGregor announced during her American Samoa Flag Day speech on April 17, 2026. The award of $270,000 she said is to the American Samoa...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — An article looking at deep-sea mining (DSM) and how decisions about the ocean are made for American Samoa focusing on the Deeds of Cession of 1900 and 1904 and how decisions about our ocean are still connected to those agreements has recently been published in the ...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Last week, Pacific leaders flocked to Honolulu in hopes of making a deal with the United States.
The "Pacific Agenda" investment summit was followed with a visit of US officials to Tonga, Fiji and Samoa. Leading them was Christopher Landau, deputy to Marco Rubio.
Among a...
To the Editor,
Federal agencies are moving closer to decisions about deep-sea mining near American Samoa.
This raises an important public question:
At what point do these actions implicate the United States’ obligations under the Deeds of Cession?
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A push to mine waters around American Samoa without consent, a board appointed by the president dictating government decisions in Puerto Rico, and the removal of immigration controls from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands were all issues highlighted by a...
WASHINGTON D.C. — (January 21, 2026) Today, NOAA announced revisions to the regulations for exploration licenses and commercial recovery permit applications under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA), a widely anticipated milestone in NOAA’s effort to streamline the deep seabed...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — (January 22, 2026) The United States is ramping up efforts to secure domestic sources of critical minerals with a major new seabed mapping initiative in the Pacific, part of a broader push to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers and counter China’s growing influence...