US renews push to open Pacific marine protected area to fishing
The U.S. government has published proposed rules to allow commercial fishing in an area more than double the size of California inside a Pacific marine reserve that encompasses a network of islands, atolls, seamounts and coral reef systems. The proposed rules, published Nov. 9 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service […]
Two U.S. corporations, American Deep Sea Minerals, Inc. and American Ocean Minerals Corporation, have applied to the U.S. government for licenses to explore seabed mining in international waters near the Cook Islands, Kiribati, and French Polynesia. The applications come amid a growing trend of U.S. companies seeking to claim rights to the international seabed through a U.S. permitting process that circumvents the United Nations body responsible for regulating deep-sea mining and protecting the marine environment.
The two South Pacific areas of interest span a combined 190,709 square kilometers, with plans to extract and sell polymetallic nodules containing valuable minerals. Other U.S. companies are also seeking rights to significant seabed blocks in international waters near Guam and the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a vast stretch of ocean between Hawai‘i and Mexico, according to a recent Mongabay investigation.
Environmental advocates and local government officials are vehemently opposing these applications, arguing that the U.S. process should not be used to rush into deep-sea mining without proper international oversight.
Written by urgent.news from Mongabay's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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