Read the latest news from regional and global sources, presenting different voices and perspectives.
American Samoa poised to lead US push for ocean mineral extraction
Samoa News
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May 16, 2025
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Off the coast of American Samoa, a remote U.S. territory known for its tuna canneries and oceanic biodiversity, plans are quietly unfolding to turn the surrounding deep waters into a new frontier for mineral extraction....
Interior begins process for offshore mineral lease sale near American Samoa
Talanei
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May 20, 2025
The Department of the Interior announced Tuesday it is initiating the process to evaluate a potential mineral lease sale in the waters offshore American Samoa. This marks the first such action by Interior in over 30 years and could pave the way...
Trump administration will evaluate request to sell leases for seabed mining near American Samoa
Hawaii Public Radio
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May 21, 2025
The Trump administration said Wednesday that it will consider selling leases to extract minerals from the seabed off the South Pacific island of American Samoa, a potential first step in a wider industry push to allow deep-sea mining that...
U.S. Launches First Deep-Sea Mineral Lease Evaluation in 30 Years Near American Samoa
gCaptain
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May 21, 2025
The Department of Interior has initiated its first mineral lease sale evaluation in over 30 years, targeting deep-sea critical minerals in waters offshore American Samoa. This groundbreaking move comes as part of President Trump’s broader strategy...
Seabed mining plan near American Samoa advances
Honolulu Star-Advertiser - Hawaii
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May 21, 2025
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES VIA THE NEW YORK TIMES In an image provided by the government, Oliver Gunasekara, chief executive of Impossible Metals, testifies before the House Committee on Natural Resources, in Washington on April 29....
BOEM Plans Deep-Sea Mining Lease Sale Off American Samoa
The Maritime Executive
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After a request from U.S. deep sea mining startup Impossible Minerals and a new executive order from President Donald Trump, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has launched the process to hold a mineral lease sale for polymetallic...
Interior Launches Process for Potential Offshore Mineral Lease Sale Near American Samoa
Arizona Free Press
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WASHINGTON — Advancing President Donald J. Trump's strategic focus on domestic critical mineral development, the Department of the Interior today announced it is initiating the process to evaluate a potential mineral lease sale in the waters...
Reopening U.S. Fishing Grounds: What it means for American Samoa
Samoa News
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May 19, 2025
PAGO PAGO, AMERICAN SAMOA — In light of ongoing public discussion regarding the reopening of certain U.S. Pacific fishing grounds, the American Samoa Government (ASG) is issuing this release to clarify key facts, address misconceptions, and...
Under pressure: pessimism ahead of session of Seabed Authority
Cosmos
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June 11, 2025
The International Seabed Authority continues the 30th session meetings at the end of this month, meeting in various sessions almost every day until a full Assembly in Kingston, Jamaica, from 21 to 25 July. The provisional agenda of the Assembly...
Trump’s move to fast-track deep-sea mining poses serious ecological, climate risks
Green Left
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May 31, 2025
Transnational companies, finding an ally in United States President Donald Trump and his extractivist agenda, are pushing to mine the seafloor for valuable minerals — despite widespread concerns about the potential ecological and climate impacts....
‘Voices of the Pacific’ is our story, a call for action on impact of plastic pollution on Pacific communities
Island Times
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May 30, 2025
APIA (SPREP) — “Voices of the Pacific”, a film which spotlights the profound impact of plastic waste, sourced from foreign countries and choking our Ocean’s arteries, earned widespread applause from Pacific countries following its world premiere...
'Act responsibly for humankind' — Palau president on deep sea mining
Samoa News
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June 10, 2025
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Palau's president says the US to fast-track deep sea mining is not a good idea. Deep sea mining frontrunner The Metals Company (TMC) has since confirmed it will not apply for a mining license through the International...
Budget Office requests $15 million from ARPA to cover reduction in FY2026 budget
Talanei
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June 10, 2025
The Executive Branch is absorbing a reduction of $30 million in the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget for ASG, and then Acting Budget Director Satia Aokuso Satia requested $15 million in ARPA funding to help cover the reduction. Satia made the...
‘Wrong Move at the Wrong Time’: Trump’s Pacific Monument Fishing Reversal Raises Alarm For Biodiversity and Island Nations
Earth.Org
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May 27, 2025
Drastically reversing prior marine protections, US President Donald Trump recently signed a proclamation opening the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) to commercial fishing. Conservationists are worried this move will erase...
Hawaiʻi Scientist Has Bad — And Good — News About Future Of Coral Reefs
Honolulu Civil Beat - Hawaii
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June 11, 2025
As coral reefs undergo a fourth global mass bleaching event, marine scientists have been studying whether new reefs might form in higher latitudes as the tropics become too warm. Tropical reefs might look like inanimate rock, but these colorful...
Concerns raised regarding deep-seabed mining in Am Samoa waters
Samoa News
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June 9, 2025
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Opposition from members of the public has continued to pour in regarding deep-seabed mining on or around American Samoa’s offshore waters since the Department of the Interior moved to consider issuing or selling a...
New fellowship tackles climate issues on Guam, other US territories
The Guam Daily Post
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A new fellowship program aims to empower organizations and leaders across U.S. territories to address the unique challenges where climate change intersects with limited democratic representation. Right to Democracy, a nonprofit organization...
Trump has opened the deep sea for business, risking fragile environments we know nothing about
Salon
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May 21, 2025
When the submarine plunged to about 1,500 meters below sea level, ecologist Jeff Drazen asked the pilots to cut the strobe lights that had been guiding them through the pitch-black waters. For a moment, they continued falling to the sea floor in...
Pacific Tourism Organisation Board Approves Key Resolutions to Strengthen Regional Tourism Governance and Sustainability
Pacific Tourism Organisation
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May 19, 2025
The Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) Board of Directors convened this week to deliberate on strategic and operational matters critical to the effective management of the organisation and the sustainable development of tourism in the region....
Marine energy: Harnessing the power of the Atlantic
Atlantic Council
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June 10, 2025
Issue Brief June 10, 2025 • 9:02 am ET Print this page Marine energy: Harnessing the power of the Atlantic By William Yancey Brown Following a decade-long partnership, the Policy Center for the New South and the Atlantic Council have joined forces...