The U.S Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has moved forward with plans to open 69 million acres of seabed around the Mariana Trench to potential mineral mining, despite more than 60,000 public comments opposing or raising concerns about the proposal.
BOEM announced the availability of its Proposed Leasing Notice (PLN), a key step towards a potential lease sale covering an area of the U.S seafloor roughly the size of Nevada.
Angelo Villagomez, senior fellow at the Centre for American Progress, criticised the move, saying the proposed mining could benefit companies while leaving communities in the Mariana Islands to bear the risks.
“Trump’s attempt to mine the seabed of the Mariana Trench will only benefit far off corporate interests, while the people who call these islands home will be left with all the costs and none of the benefits. Any damage that happens from mining in this area presents permanent and irreversible risks to fragile ecosystems. The administration is again ignoring the overwhelming concerns voiced by the people and local governments.”
The proposed lease sale would allow mineral resource development in federal waters offshore the Mariana Islands, adjacent to the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument.
Under the current process, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Governor David Apatang is the only person specifically allowed to submit comments on the proposed leasing notice.
Apatang has 60 days to review and respond before BOEM moves to issue a Final Leasing Notice.
“There have been no consultations with the people of the Northern Mariana Islands,” Apatang told AFP earlier this month.
The Centre for American Progress has described the proposed leasing process as “resource colonialism” in a new video examining the potential impacts of seabed mining.
The video features interviews with Dr Sabrina Suluai-Mahuka of Finafinau in American Samoa, Dr Steven Mana’oakamai Johnson of Cornell University and Villagomez, who are both from the Northern Mariana Islands.
BOEM currently proposes holding the Pacific Mineral Lease Sale 2 (PACM-2) on 16 December 2026.
The proposed lease sale has raised concerns over potential impacts on fragile marine ecosystems and the involvement of communities in decisions affecting the waters surrounding the Mariana Islands.
