deep sea mining
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...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — When the United States recently escalated its confrontation with Venezuela - carrying out strikes in Caracas and capturing President Nicolás Maduro — the moves were framed as political intervention.
But the raid also reflected a deeper contest over oil and critical...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Metals Company spoke out recently saying at the dawn of the deep-sea nodule collection industry nearly fifty years ago, U.S. companies tested a range of nodule-collection technologies. These early pioneers understood the challenges, and their choices reflected the...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — During a webinar hosted by Right to Democracy and the America the Beautiful for All Coalition, civil society organizations from Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands announced they and their national partners collected over 60,000 petitions, letters, and comments in...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — As the federal government considers opening U.S. territorial waters to deep sea mining, Pacific Island communities and territorial governments are going on record to oppose the imposition of these activities, warning of irreversible harm to ocean ecosystems, cultural...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Research commissioned by Greenpeace, showing that deep sea mining in the Cook Islands is unlikely to make any money, is being rejected by the country's government.
The research, performed by Trytten Consulting Services in October last year, reviewed the economic...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — More than 3,000 people from U.S. territories have signed a petition opposing proposed deep seabed mining in waters near the Mariana Islands and American Samoa, warning of irreversible environmental damage and the exclusion of Indigenous communities from decision-making....