These efforts are part of President Donald Trump\u2019s push to secure from the seabed critical minerals such as nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese. \u201cOur nation must take immediate action to accelerate the responsible development of seabed mineral resources, quantify the nation\u2019s endowment of seabed minerals, reinvigorate American leadership in associated extraction and processing technologies, and ensure secure supply chains for our defence, infrastructure, and energy sectors,\u201d Trump wrote in an executive order last April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The southern boundary of the area in question lies roughly halfway between Rota and its neighbouring island, Guam. Further south in the Pacific, a similar process was initiated a few months earlier in American Samoa<\/a>. All are US Pacific territories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Northern Marianas, Guam and American Samoa share concerns that deep-sea mining could irreversibly damage their marine ecosystems, which are some of the world\u2019s most biodiverse. Such fears are shared by several scientists and conservation groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pacific island residents also fear the disruption of their cultural practices and food systems. For some, the proposal feels like a familiar pattern: bearing risks in the name of strategic interests, without meaningful consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pacific communities are already bearing the costs of decisions made thousands of miles away in Washington, DC \u2013 from nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands to the environmental damage of militarising Guam and the Northern Marianas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As US territories, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas have little control over federal policies. They have delegates in Congress but their representatives cannot vote; residents are American citizens but they cannot vote in presidential elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTime and time again we\u2019ve been reminded that decisions are already being made about us, without us,\u201d Manglo\u00f1a says. \u201cIt\u2019s a never-ending pattern of colonial oppression and extraction. How much more do we have to give? How much more can be extracted from our homes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mining vast tracts of ocean floors rich in potato-sized nodules containing minerals is a priority for the current US government. Trump’s April executive order<\/a> says he is seeking to establish the US as a \u201cglobal leader in responsible seabed mineral exploration\u201d. The order explicitly seeks to counter China\u2019s dominance in supplying the elements vital for batteries and other modern technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The order tasked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (Boem) with fast-tracking the necessary reviews, licences and commercial permits for this mining, in both US and international waters. This sidesteps an existing, UN-led, multilateral process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the order, the government has announced plans to lease areas offshore of the US states of Virginia and Alaska for mining. It is considering<\/a> an application from The Metals Company, based in Canada, to mine in international waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In October, Boem identified roughly 33 million acres (13 million hectares) of seabed off American Samoa<\/a> as an area for potential exploration and mining. This came six months after Impossible Metals, a company based in the US state of California, submitted<\/a> an unsolicited request to mine about half of the area. The company says its autonomous underwater robot can identify and avoid harvesting nodules that have visible marine life, to help minimise habitat disturbance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The area borders the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, which encompasses the Rose Atoll<\/a> Marine National Monument. This is one of the world\u2019s most pristine atolls. In January, Noaa announced<\/a> a survey to map the sea floor off the territory, for mineral deposits. Meanwhile, in the Northern Mariana Islands, roughly 69 million acres<\/a> (28 million hectares) of seabed are being eyed for potential leasing to mining companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scientists say the proposed mining areas in both American Samoa and the Marianas (including Guam) overlap extensively with seamounts. Key ocean ecosystems, these underwater mountains host a huge array of marine life. It tends to exceed the biomass and biodiversity of the flat seafloor, known as the abyssal plain, that surrounds them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cherisse Du Preez, a deep sea ecologist at the University of Victoria in Canada, says mining along seamount slopes carries greater environmental risks than mining abyssal plains. Currents can spread disturbed sediment and pollution far from mining sites across the surrounding bottom area of the sea called the benthic zone, she says. They push water upward at seamounts, for example, and create swirling eddies. Mining contaminants could enter the food chain and accumulate in the larger fish that people eat. The mining activity could also disrupt migrations, threatening fisheries and triggering economic crises in communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a statement to Dialogue Earth, Boem says it \u201ctakes the unique ecological characteristics of biological habitats including seamounts seriously\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is important to note that Boem will not authorise activities unless a full environmental review demonstrates that impacts, including sediment plumes, benthic disturbance and noise or light emissions, can be understood, minimised and appropriately managed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oliver Gunasekara, the CEO of Impossible Metals, says the technology his company is developing minimises disturbance by hovering above the seafloor and picking up nodules for collection rather than dredging the seabed. \u201cThe goal is to minimise disturbance and avoid the sediment plumes that have raised legitimate environmental concerns in the past,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gunasekara also stresses that he understands why people are concerned and proposals should be scrutinised carefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have deep respect for the people of American Samoa and their relationship with the ocean. The ocean is central to culture, identity and daily life in the islands, and that deserves recognition and care,\u201d he told Dialogue Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In American Samoa, whose primary economic driver is tuna fishing, the mining proposals are causing residents to worry about the impacts to their traditions. For example, palolo worms are a culturally significant delicacy that swarm seasonally while the akule, a mackerel-sized fish, is commonly fished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe ocean, to us, is not a resource. It is an entity that has always provided for us,\u201d says Sabrina Suluai-Mahuka, an educator and environmentalist who used to lead the territory\u2019s climate resilience office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Impossible Metals has pledged to the islands 1% of profits generated from selling any minerals extracted from American Samoa\u2019s exclusive economic zone. Suluai-Mahuka calls this \u201can insult\u201d that merely adds to local frustration: \u201cTo industry players and to federal agencies, deep-sea mining is seen as a lottery ticket. But for us, it\u2019s a gamble on our livelihoods that we can\u2019t afford.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In response, Gunasekara says: \u201cThe revenue-sharing idea that was discussed is voluntary and is meant as an initial step to acknowledge that local communities should participate in the economic benefits of any activity in nearby waters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The economic situation on these islands is difficult. Politicians in the Northern Marianas say there is an escalating economic crisis<\/a>, making new sources of income difficult to ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>American Samoa has a moratorium on deep-sea mining that remains in effect. Leaders including the territory\u2019s most senior elected figure, Governor Pulaali\u2019i Nikolao Pula, have expressed opposition. But Pula has also previously said<\/a> seabed mining could be \u201can opportunity that should not be missed\u201d \u2013 if it is pursued responsibly, with transparency and with the interests of American Samoan residents in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile Guam\u2019s governor, Lou Leon Guerrero, has urged the federal government to refrain from advancing leasing or exploration activities in the Marianas. She said in a public comment on the proposals that deep-sea mining poses \u201cirreversible harm, substantial scientific uncertainty, minimal economic upside, and no demonstrated national security benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Northern Marianas\u2019 governor, David Apatang, said in a letter to Boem he could \u201cneither fully support nor fully oppose\u201d offshore mining activities in his territory\u2019s waters. He blamed the information provided, calling it insufficient for anyone to fully understand the potential effects of seabed mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy administration has expressed with a loud and clear voice that the potential for marine and ecological harm and degradation from deep-sea mining is likely, and that when science has made that argument convincingly probable, that no action must be taken,\u201d Apatang tells Dialogue Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Manglo\u00f1a fears troubled economies could pressurise residents into capitulation: \u201cOne of my major concerns is this false narrative that deep-sea mining is going to save our community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Stalked](\"https:\/\/www.boem.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/CNMI%20RFI%20Announcement%20Color%208x11%20Landscape.jpg?VersionId=hQutLXmqvcFLtw.1Qxu3tz4nTi1aE.Tn\")
<\/div>Scouring the seabed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>Following the money<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The potential for marine and ecological harm and degradation from deep-sea mining is likely<\/blockquote>David Apatang, governor of the Northern Marianas<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Gaps in science, and engagement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n