Saving Seafood

Lawsuits challenge deep-sea mining in Marianas, American Samoa

September 14, 2026 — Conservation and community groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the Trump administration’s plan to kickstart deep-sea mining off the coasts of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. The first lawsuit was specific to the Trump administration’s attempt to launch deep-sea mining off the coast of American Samoa.

Meanwhile, CNMI Del. Kimberlyn King-Hinds wants territories to get a 50% cut of revenues from any deep-sea mining leases.

Tuesday’s lawsuit is the second filed by Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization, on behalf of parties Our Common Wealth 670, PåganWatch, Conservation Council for Hawai’i and Center for Biological Diversity. The first lawsuit was specific to the Trump administration’s attempt to launch deep-sea mining off the coast of American Samoa.

The mining leases were advanced by the Marine Minerals Administration in July and August, first for the seabed of American Samoa and then for the Marianas Islands. A lease sale is planned for Dec. 16 for the Marianas and for American Samoa in November.

Read the full article at Samoa News

Guam shut out as CNMI seabed mining sale advances in ‘race to the bottom,’ governor’s office says

August 24, 2026 — Guam’s exclusion from the formal comment process on a proposed seabed mining lease sale near the Northern Mariana Islands, paired with pointed new criticism from Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero’s administration, is adding fresh tension to a federal push that critics say is moving faster than anyone can properly weigh the risks.

The Marine Minerals Administration published a proposed leasing notice Monday covering five lease blocks along the edge of the Mariana Trench. Under the notice, only the CNMI governor holds a formal right to submit comments before a final leasing notice can be issued. Guam’s governor has no such standing, even though the waters sit next to the island.

CNMI Del. Kimberlyn King-Hinds said she does not understand the restriction. “I don’t know, and I’m not sure why she would not be since these waters are adjacent to Guam as well,” King-Hinds said in an interview with The Guam Daily Post on Wednesday.

Leon Guerrero’s administration had already raised concerns after the notice came out this week. In a follow-up email Thursday responding to additional Post questions, the administration went further, faulting federal regulators for moving without adequate study.

Read the full article at The Guam Daily Post