Deep-sea mining interests raise alarms among Mariana Trench communities

U.S.-led plans to mine the deep seabed have gained momentum since President Donald Trump signed an executive order that called for the industry’s rapid formation to bolster U.S. national security. One recent development emerged in November, when U.S. agency Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) signaled its intent to open offshore areas of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) — an area known to harbor mineral-rich seamounts, hydrothermal vents and abyssal plains — to deep-sea mineral exploration and development.

On Nov. 12, BOEM issued a request for information, or RFI, which indicated its interest in offering mineral rights to companies through lease agreements along the CNMI’s outer continental shelf, a process that could eventually allow commercial mining to proceed on CNMI’s deep seabed. The publication of the RFI included the opening of a 30-day public comment period.

Yet several government officials in both the CNMI and the neighboring island nation of Guam — both of which are U.S. territories that could be directly affected by deep-sea mining in the region — have raised concerns about the brief window they’ve been given to respond to BOEM’s proposal. Some local residents are also pushing back against the proposal, arguing that deep-sea mining would irreversibly damage the marine environment, while disregarding the community’s deep cultural connection to the ocean. If seabed mining does go ahead in the region, critics say it would become another form of colonial exploitation in a region already heavily used by the United States for commercial and military purposes, at the expense of local communities.

‘Vast potential for critical minerals’

The waters of the CNMI, known as the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), is a bean-shaped, 758,121-square-kilometer (292,712-square-mile) patch of sea in the North Pacific Ocean that hugs the territory’s 14 islands. Since the CNMI is a U.S. territory, the U.S. maintains control over these waters, including jurisdiction over any seabed resources within the area. The RFI identifies a 143,595-km2 (55,442-mi2) area for possible deep-sea mining, equating to nearly 20% of the EEZ. The RFI notes that the area is “approximately equal distance between the islands of Guam and Rota, the southernmost island of the CNMI.”

The identified area hugs the eastern flank of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, which was established in 2009 to protect 246,048 km2 (95,000 mi2) of the Mariana Archipelago’s seafloor and waters, including parts of the Mariana Trench, which not only harbors the world’s deepest parts of the seabed but also boasts a unique array of biodiversity, from deep-sea sponges to fish and anemones. The southern tip of the RFI area is a little more than 100 km (62 mi) from Challenger Deep, the deepest trench in the global ocean.

The RFI for CNMI’s offshore minerals is the second RFI BOEM released this year for deep-sea mining. The first, which focused on the offshore waters of American Samoa, also within U.S. territorial jurisdiction, was published in June. American Samoa enacted a moratorium on deep-sea mining in 2024, and this initial RFI drew backlash from the American Samoan government, local residents and environmentalists. Despite the opposition, BOEM moved forward with the RFI process in American Samoa, which it announced as “completed” on Nov. 12, the same day that it announced the start of the RFI process with CMNI. The agency also nearly doubled the proposed mining area from 7.3 million hectares (18 million acres) to 13.4 million hectares (33 million acres).

“The Pacific Outer Continental Shelf holds vast potential for critical minerals that power American manufacturing and defense technology,” Matt Giacona, the acting director of BOEM, said in a Nov. 10 press release. “These resources are key to ensuring the United States is not reliant on China and other nations for its critical minerals needs. These initial steps—inviting public input in Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and completing Area Identification offshore American Samoa—ensure that BOEM’s decision-making is locally informed, environmentally sound, and done in a scientific manner.”

The agency notes in the Federal Register that the RFI does not indicate a “final decision to lease and does not prejudge any future Secretarial decisions concerning leasing on the OCS offshore the CNMI.”

‘No free, prior, or informed consent’

Angelo Villagomez, an environmental advocate and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan policy institute, said the recent RFI caught community members by surprise and that it’s in “contravention” to the conservation work the U.S. has established over the past two decades. For Villagomez, who grew up in Saipan in the CNMI, the issue is also personal.

“I’ve been aware of deep-sea mining … but I was able to stay arm’s length [from it] for a while,” Villagomez told Mongabay, “but it’s literally in my ancestral backyard now.”

Villagomez also said he found the lack of information surrounding the RFI concerning since BOEM hadn’t made it clear who made the request. “It’s unclear if it came from a mining company [or] if this is just coming from BOEM or from a political person at BOEM,” he said.

In an emailed statement, BOEM said it initiated the RFI “as an early step to assess interest in offshore critical mineral leasing,” but did not specify if specific companies or BOEM representatives were involved in the initiation.

Villagomez also criticized BOEM for going forward with the RFI process without the CNMI community’s consent. “It’s abhorrent that the community was only given 30 days with no free, prior, or [informed] consent, nor that any public hearings are scheduled online or in any of the islands affected by this,” he said in a Nov. 15 LinkedIn post. (Free, prior, and informed consent is a core principle articulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.)

David M. Apatang, the governor of CNMI, told Mongabay in an emailed statement that BOEM “did not consult with the CNMI prior to the Federal Register publication,” although he acknowledged that he wasn’t aware of “any requirement, statutory or regulatory, for BOEM to consult with the CNMI government before it published the RFI.” He added that BOEM did immediately email the CNMI government upon the RFI’s publication.

On Nov. 15, Apatang, along with Guam Governor Lourdes Leon Guerrero, posted a letter to BOEM as a public comment to the RFI, requesting a 120-day extension, arguing that the current 30-day window was “insufficient” for their respective governments and regional stakeholders to “provide comprehensive and informed feedback on a matter with wide-ranging environmental, economic, cultural, and jurisdictional implications.”

Apatang said that during a virtual meeting that took place about two weeks after the RFI was published, BOEM informed representatives of the CNMI and Guam governments that if such an extension was granted, it would likely be for 30 days, rather than 120 days.

In an emailed response to Mongabay, a spokesperson for BOEM said the agency “remains in the initial, information-gathering phase, with no decisions made to lease at this time,” and that it is “considering the request to extend the RFI comment period and is applying lessons from prior processes, such as in American Samoa, to further enhance outreach and responsiveness.”

Jennifer McKinnon, a professor of maritime archaeology and cultural heritage management at East Carolina University and chair of the U.S.-based organization Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology, told Mongabay she had been involved with a BOEM-funded project that worked with communities in the Marianas to generate maps of tangible and intangible maritime heritage, which she said was an important step to take before the government pushed forward with any kind of offshore industry in the territorial waters of the CNMI, whether it be offshore wind or deep-sea mining. However, McKinnon said BOEM terminated the project in September. McKinnon emphasized that this project was entirely separate from the current RFI process.

“I am surprised that they did it really quickly,” McKinnon said about the RFI process for CNMI’s offshore minerals, “especially given that we had that study and had been making grounds on … how to work with the community.” McKinnon added that while she wished BOEM had gone forward with the project, the community now had access to the maritime heritage maps for its use. BOEM, she said, would not be receiving the maps.

On Dec. 3, the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology posted a comment to the RFI, expressing its “significant archaeological and cultural heritage concerns” around BOEM’s plans.

When Mongabay questioned BOEM about the termination of the project, the agency’s spokesperson said that “as part of the Department of the Interior’s realignment of initiatives funded by IRA [Inflation Reduction Act] funds, some initiatives in the region were ultimately terminated. BOEM continues to prioritize the importance of cultural and historical perspectives in its decision making and is currently looking at other options to continue this important effort.”

‘Our islands serving as a sacrifice zone’

Deep-sea mining has become a divisive issue in the Pacific. Some island nations, including Nauru, Kiribati and the Cook Islands, support the emerging industry, arguing that it could offer a much-needed economic boost at a time when climate change is straining their resources. Other Pacific nations, such as Palau, Fiji and the Federated States of Micronesia, strongly oppose seabed mining, warning that the industry would destroy the very marine ecosystems their communities rely upon.

Both perspectives appear in the public responses to the RFI, though opposition to deep-sea mining in the CNMI is far more prevalent. As of Dec. 9, nearly 200 comments raised concerns or objected to deep-sea mining and BOEM’s RFI, while fewer than ten expressed support, mainly for economic reasons. Additional commenters requested an extension of the comment period, offered recommendations on how BOEM should approach the process or took a neutral view.

Apatang said the CNMI government was carefully considering the environmental and cultural risks of deep-sea mining, and also the “risks and benefits to the CNMI fragile economy.”

“The CNMI government will listen to what the community has to say and will highlight some of those in its comments,” said Apatang, referencing comments made directly to BOEM as well as any comments the government may submit via the Federal Register. “The public is encouraged to submit their comments via the Federal Register comment portal.” However, Apatang added that it was “hard to say” how involved the CNMI government will be in shaping the final outcome.

Sheila Babauta, chairwoman and treasurer of the Saipan-based conservation nonprofit Friends of the Mariana Trench and a former politician on the Northern Mariana Islands, is among the critics. She warns that deep-sea mining could permanently damage the region’s marine environment, cause local extinctions and impact local fisheries. She also called the RFI process initiated by BOEM “irresponsible and colonial.”

“I am definitely concerned about this perspective of our home and our islands serving as a sacrifice zone,” Babauta told Mongabay. “It’s not something new. We’re literally a sacrifice zone with the hyper-militarization that’s happening around us.”

In its statement to Mongabay, BOEM said, “Any future activity, including potential leasing, would be subject to rigorous technical and environmental review.”

Babauta added that deep-sea mining activities could harm the cultural heritage of the Indigenous peoples of the Marianas, including the disruption of traditional wayfinding practices.

“Our traditional navigators nowadays who voyage, continue to voyage using the environment, the stars, the waves, the clouds and the sea animals to navigate out in the open ocean,” Babauta said.

Villagomez and Babauta are spearheading a petition opposing the push to mine in CNMI waters. While the petition results have not been shared yet, Villagomez said he expected thousands to sign, similar to a petition that had been organized to oppose deep-sea mining in American Samoa. As of Dec. 2, the American Samoa petition has accumulated nearly 3,000 signatures.

While BOEM told Mongabay it is “applying lessons from prior processes, such as in American Samoa, to further enhance outreach and responsiveness,” Villagomez expressed concern that BOEM might not listen to those speaking against the industry.

“The thing from American Samoa that has me worried is that they have a unified position across the entire government and community, and shared that very loudly with the Trump administration, and they were ignored,” Villagomez said. “That’s a learning moment for the rest of us.”

Banner image: This sea cucumbers belongs to the same family as sea pigs and swims in search of food and to escape predators. Behind it is a stalked glass sponge. Image by Ocean Explorer Trust.

Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a senior staff writer for Mongabay and was recently a fellow with the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network. Find her on Bluesky and LinkedIn.

U.S. federal agency clears ways for deep-sea mining — and companies are lining up

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