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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/deep-sea-mining/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2026 02:59:06 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>News on Deep Sea Mining</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/deep-sea-mining/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>UN regulator delays deep-sea mining rules, but extends criticized exploration contract</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/un-regulator-delays-deep-sea-mining-rules-but-extends-criticized-exploration-contract/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/un-regulator-delays-deep-sea-mining-rules-but-extends-criticized-exploration-contract/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jul 2026 20:46:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/29184144/dive05-benthic-jelly-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324837</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Caribbean, Jamaica, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Governance, Law, Marine, Mining, and Natural Resources]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The International Seabed Authority (ISA), the U.N.-associated regulator of seabed mining activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction, has extended a controversial deep-sea mining exploration contract and once again failed to finalize the rules needed to regulate commercial seabed mining. The ISA’s 36-member council, which met from July 13 to 24, decided to extend the exploration [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The International Seabed Authority (ISA), the U.N.-associated regulator of seabed mining activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction, has extended a controversial deep-sea mining exploration contract and once again failed to finalize the rules needed to regulate commercial seabed mining. The ISA’s 36-member council, which met from July 13 to 24, decided to extend the exploration contract for a subsidiary of Canadian deep-sea mining firm The Metals Company (TMC), allowing the company to retain exclusive exploration rights for blocks of the seabed in the Pacific Ocean. This decision stemmed from the ISA&#8217;s finding that TMC&#8217;s subsidiary, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI), had met all the criteria for renewal. This move was met with criticism from both ISA council members and observers since another of TMC&#8217;s subsidiaries, TMC USA, is also pursuing deep-sea mining in the same areas outside of the ISA’s legal framework and, in early July, even launched a lawsuit against the ISA for its scrutiny of TMC’s activities. Louisa Casson of Greenpeace International, who was an observer at the council meeting, said in a statement that the ISA’s decision to extend TMC’s contract set a “dangerous precedent for both the deep sea and the rule of law” that also “calls into serious question the regulator’s ability to enforce basic compliance under its existing rules.” Organizations including Greenpeace International are critical of deep-sea mining, arguing that this activity would have devastating and likely irreversible effects on the marine environment.  Forty-five countries have also called for a moratorium or precautionary pause&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/un-regulator-delays-deep-sea-mining-rules-but-extends-criticized-exploration-contract/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/un-regulator-delays-deep-sea-mining-rules-but-extends-criticized-exploration-contract/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324837</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Experts say ‘bare bones’ US laws are unfit to regulate nascent deep-sea mining industry</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/experts-say-bare-bones-us-laws-are-unfit-to-regulate-nascent-deep-sea-mining-industry/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/experts-say-bare-bones-us-laws-are-unfit-to-regulate-nascent-deep-sea-mining-industry/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2026 16:14:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/09093544/u.-AP16274011795020-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320805</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Governance, Industry, Law, Marine, Marine Conservation, Mining, Oceans, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is part 2 of a two-part series examining the U.S.’s efforts to begin deep-sea mining in federal waters. Part 2 examines the regulations that would govern the industry. Part 1 explored the process behind proposed lease sales in U.S. federal waters and reactions to those plans. The deep-sea mining industry could launch in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is part 2 of a two-part series examining the U.S.’s efforts to begin deep-sea mining in federal waters. Part 2 examines the regulations that would govern the industry. Part 1 explored the process behind proposed lease sales in U.S. federal waters and reactions to those plans. The deep-sea mining industry could launch in the near future in U.S. federal waters. Yet legal experts and former government officials warn that the regulations that would govern this industry are outdated and lack important oversight provisions. In April 2025, the Trump administration signaled its intention to enter the global race to mine the deep sea when it released an executive order calling for the development of the industry. Following the administration’s direction, in April 2026 the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced its plans to hold a series of seabed lease sales over the course of this year and into early next. The first one is slated for August in American Samoa, with subsequent lease sales planned for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Alaska. If these go forward, they could mark the first commercial lease processes for deep-sea mining anywhere in the world. Critics say deep-sea mining could cause large-scale and irreversible damage to the marine environment, and some governments in areas slated for leasing have even taken steps to ban deep-sea mining. In 2024, the governor of American Samoa enacted a moratorium on seabed mining from its territorial waters, which extend 3 nautical miles (5.6 kilometers)&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/experts-say-bare-bones-us-laws-are-unfit-to-regulate-nascent-deep-sea-mining-industry/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/experts-say-bare-bones-us-laws-are-unfit-to-regulate-nascent-deep-sea-mining-industry/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320805</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How we tracked China’s deep-sea mining fleet</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-we-tracked-chinas-deep-sea-mining-fleet/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-we-tracked-chinas-deep-sea-mining-fleet/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jun 2026 20:33:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire AlbertsKara Fox]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320430</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[China, Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean, Polynesia, Taiwan, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea Mining, Energy, Environment, Marine, Marine Conservation, Military, Mongabay Data Studio, Mongabay investigation, Oceans, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A version of this story was originally published by the Pulitzer Center, which supported Elizabeth Claire Alberts as an Ocean Reporting Network fellow. We didn’t set out to investigate China’s deep-sea mining fleet, but as our research into the burgeoning industry developed over our yearlong partnership, it became clear that an investigation into the fleet’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A version of this story was originally published by the Pulitzer Center, which supported Elizabeth Claire Alberts as an Ocean Reporting Network fellow. We didn’t set out to investigate China’s deep-sea mining fleet, but as our research into the burgeoning industry developed over our yearlong partnership, it became clear that an investigation into the fleet’s alleged military dual use was emerging as an important, untold story. Shortly after we embarked on our joint project, geopolitics around the deep-sea mining landscape began to shift dramatically. In February 2025, China signed an agreement with the Cook Islands government to collaborate on deep-sea mining research and exploration. At the same time, it was pursuing a similar deal with the archipelago nation of Kiribati, marking a notable expansion of Chinese influence in the Pacific. China holds the largest number of exploration contracts issued by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the U.N.-affiliated deep-sea mining regulator, and is also its biggest financial contributor. It also operates the world’s largest oceanographic research fleet. Against this backdrop, we kept returning to a central question: was China’s pursuit of deep-sea mining driven solely for accessing mineral resources, or was it also shaped by broader geopolitical strategy? Through extensive reporting, we learned that China’s interest in seabed mining was motivated by both of these things, and that some of its vessels were engaged in both deep-sea mining work and militarily strategic surveillance. Meanwhile, deep-sea mining efforts have been gathering pace in the United States. In March 2025, The Metals Company,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-we-tracked-chinas-deep-sea-mining-fleet/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-we-tracked-chinas-deep-sea-mining-fleet/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320430</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As economic case for deep-sea mining weakens, industry should halt urgency to begin operation (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/as-economic-case-for-deep-sea-mining-weakens-industry-should-halt-urgency-to-begin-operation-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/as-economic-case-for-deep-sea-mining-weakens-industry-should-halt-urgency-to-begin-operation-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 May 2026 21:18:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy Whitmore]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/03110924/deep-sea-octopus-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320223</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Energy, Finance, Marine, Marine Conservation, Mining, Oceans, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Why do we need deep-sea mining? Given the potential consequences for the health and biodiversity of the ocean, that seems a vital question to answer before any commercial mining starts. The question is even more important as the economic case for deep-sea mining is being increasingly undermined by financial evidence, and is nowhere near strong [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Why do we need deep-sea mining? Given the potential consequences for the health and biodiversity of the ocean, that seems a vital question to answer before any commercial mining starts. The question is even more important as the economic case for deep-sea mining is being increasingly undermined by financial evidence, and is nowhere near strong enough to justify the risks to ecosystems we barely understand. Deep-sea mining in international waters is a unique proposition given that the international seabed is not owned by any state. Instead, it is considered the ‘global commons,’ belonging to all of us, so that any extraction should be justified for the benefit of all humankind. Given deep-sea mining companies also have financially-mandated deadlines, the arguments for it also have to address why there is a supposed urgency. This is especially true given that scientists stress the many unknowns, both about the deep-sea environment itself and the likely cumulative impact of the industry. Over the years, those proposing deep-sea mining have come up with a number of reasons why such mining is necessary and urgent, beyond potential profit. The arguments have evolved to claim that minerals will primarily feed into the energy transition away from fossil fuels. A squat lobster in the deep sea. Image by Schmidt Ocean Institute (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). As covered by Mongabay, effective counter-arguments have questioned how necessary the specific minerals from deep-sea mining are for the energy transition, including whether ongoing changes in battery technology and demand will negate any estimated&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/as-economic-case-for-deep-sea-mining-weakens-industry-should-halt-urgency-to-begin-operation-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/as-economic-case-for-deep-sea-mining-weakens-industry-should-halt-urgency-to-begin-operation-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320223</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>US prepares to auction leases for seabed mining blocks in federal waters</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/us-prepares-to-auction-leases-for-seabed-mining-blocks-in-federal-waters/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/us-prepares-to-auction-leases-for-seabed-mining-blocks-in-federal-waters/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 May 2026 20:29:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/27100412/sea-star-coral-ex1702-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320180</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Alaska, Pacific Islands, and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, extractives, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Industry, Islands, Marine, Marine Conservation, Mining, Oceans, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is part 1 of a two-part series examining the U.S.’s efforts to begin deep-sea mining in federal waters. Part 1 explores the process behind proposed lease sales in U.S. federal waters and reactions to those plans. Part 2 examines the regulations that would govern the industry. The U.S. agency responsible for overseeing deep-sea mining [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is part 1 of a two-part series examining the U.S.’s efforts to begin deep-sea mining in federal waters. Part 1 explores the process behind proposed lease sales in U.S. federal waters and reactions to those plans. Part 2 examines the regulations that would govern the industry. The U.S. agency responsible for overseeing deep-sea mining in federal waters is preparing to auction off seabed blocks within months — a step that could kick-start commercial-scale deep-sea mining and make the U.S. one of the first countries to allow it. Deep-sea mining has not yet begun anywhere in the world. Opponents say it could cause widespread and irreversible damage to the marine environment if it begins, while supporters say it could provide an important source of critical minerals. In a budgetary document released in April 2026, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) indicated it intends to hold at least three offshore lease sales during the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years. The lease sales will take place through competitive auctions, providing a pathway for winning companies to gain exclusive rights to explore and exploit minerals in designated tracts of seabed. The first sale is slated for the federal waters of American Samoa in August 2026; a second in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in November 2026; and a third in Alaska in 2027. A spokesperson for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the U.S. agency currently responsible for the development of offshore energy and mineral resources on the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/us-prepares-to-auction-leases-for-seabed-mining-blocks-in-federal-waters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/us-prepares-to-auction-leases-for-seabed-mining-blocks-in-federal-waters/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320180</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deep-sea wildernesses are more important than the promise of seafloor mining (analysis)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/deep-sea-wildernesses-are-more-important-than-the-promise-of-seafloor-mining-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/deep-sea-wildernesses-are-more-important-than-the-promise-of-seafloor-mining-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 18:23:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andrew D. Thaler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/21170043/FK210726-Dive443-BubblegumCoral-20210728-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317523</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Oceania, Pacific Islands, Pacific Ocean, and Papua New Guinea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Analysis, Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Business, Commentary, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Ethics, Fisheries, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Mining, Oceans, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When I set sail on the MV NorSky in the summer of 2008 to probe the depths of Manus Basin off the coast of Papua New Guinea, I believed in the promise of deep-sea mining. As an early-career deep-sea ecologist, I was swayed by arguments in favor of this emerging industry. It offered a new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When I set sail on the MV NorSky in the summer of 2008 to probe the depths of Manus Basin off the coast of Papua New Guinea, I believed in the promise of deep-sea mining. As an early-career deep-sea ecologist, I was swayed by arguments in favor of this emerging industry. It offered a new way to obtain the metals needed for the renewable energy revolution, one allegedly free of the human rights and environmental abuses of terrestrial mining. The company was Nautilus Minerals, and the plan was to mine an active hydrothermal vent field called Solwara I. What is a hydrothermal vent and why would anyone want to mine one? When seawater is drawn down into the earth and heated under enormous pressure, it rises through cracks in the crust, erupting from the seafloor in metal-rich plumes. Those metals are deposited on the walls of a growing chimney. Deep-sea miners call this structure a seafloor massive sulfide. They can be rich in gold and silver, as well as copper, zinc, lead and rare earth elements. By most estimates, Solwara I is among the most valuable seafloor massive sulfides ever discovered. And it is not only rich in metals, it is rich with life. The dumbo octopus is a species only found in the deep sea. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. The communities that grow around hydrothermal vents depend on the chemical energy of the vent plume. The geological process that deposits metals also&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/deep-sea-wildernesses-are-more-important-than-the-promise-of-seafloor-mining-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317523</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>24 new species found in ocean zone eyed for battery metals mining</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/24-new-species-found-in-ocean-zone-eyed-for-battery-metals-mining/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/24-new-species-found-in-ocean-zone-eyed-for-battery-metals-mining/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Apr 2026 01:58:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/09014340/CCZ-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317236</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Environment, Forest Destruction, Mining, New Discovery, Oceans, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers pulled 24 tiny new creatures from a deep abyss in the central Pacific Ocean, some with long, spindly legs and others with more squat, compact bodies. Some appeared to feed on the sediment itself, while others had large claws suggesting they prey on other creatures living in the mud. The discoveries, published in ZooKeys, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers pulled 24 tiny new creatures from a deep abyss in the central Pacific Ocean, some with long, spindly legs and others with more squat, compact bodies. Some appeared to feed on the sediment itself, while others had large claws suggesting they prey on other creatures living in the mud. The discoveries, published in ZooKeys, come from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a roughly 6-million-square-kilometer (2.3-million-square-mile) expanse of seabed between Hawai‘i and Mexico. The newly described species are all amphipods, a diverse group of crustaceans. The shrimp-like creatures, most about a centimeter long, or less than half an inch, have evolved in the deep sea, some 4,000 meters (13,100 feet) below the surface, over millions of years. Among the finds was a completely new superfamily, Mirabestioidea, and a new family, Mirabestiidae, representing previously unknown evolutionary lineages. &#8220;If you imagine that on planet Earth, we know about carnivorous mammals, we know that bears exist and we know that the families of cats exist, it would be like finding dogs,&#8221; Tammy Horton, a researcher at the U.K.&#8217;s National Oceanography Centre and co-lead of the study, told Inside Climate News. Collage of the 24 new Amphipod species identified in Clarion-Clipperton Zone, CC BY, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton Scientists collected the specimens by extracting large cubes of mud from the seabed, known as box cores, and hauling them up to a research ship. After washing and sieving the cores, researchers found a variety of amphipods nestled among the mud and metallic nodules. During a weeklong&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/24-new-species-found-in-ocean-zone-eyed-for-battery-metals-mining/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317236</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Migratory species summit adopts new marine protections amid extinction warnings</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/migratory-species-summit-adopts-new-marine-protections-amid-extinction-warnings/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/migratory-species-summit-adopts-new-marine-protections-amid-extinction-warnings/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Apr 2026 13:55:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/08015440/c.-BANNER-%C2%A9Andy-Murch-Great-Hammerhead-Shark-4761-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317143</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Brazil, Global, Indian Ocean, Latin America, Pacific Ocean, South America, and Southern Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Birds, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Extinction, Fish, Fishing, Fragmentation, Freshwater Fish, Habitat Loss, Hunting, Marine, Marine Animals, Migration, Oceans, Overexploitation, Seabirds, and Sharks]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Dozens of migratory animals, including 33 marine species, gained new protections during the recent summit for the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. The 15th Conference of the Parties (CMS COP15) took place March 23-29 in Campo Grande, Brazil, under the slogan “Connecting Nature to Sustain Life.” “It was a very [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Dozens of migratory animals, including 33 marine species, gained new protections during the recent summit for the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. The 15th Conference of the Parties (CMS COP15) took place March 23-29 in Campo Grande, Brazil, under the slogan “Connecting Nature to Sustain Life.” “It was a very strong COP for marine species,” Amy Fraenkel, CMS executive secretary, told Mongabay after the meeting’s conclusion. The CMS is a United Nations convention ratified by 132 nations and the European Union that aims to build the international cooperation necessary to conserve migratory species on a global scale. Among the key outcomes at the latest meeting: Delegates agreed on new or enhanced treaty protections for 40 species and populations, including 26 seabirds, three shorebirds and four shark species. Furthermore, CMS COP15 took steps to reduce bycatch of protected species and to identify marine flyways and key marine areas for the conservation of migratory species. Delegates also called for greater protections for seamounts, recognizing the conservation needs of freshwater fish and guarding against the impacts of deep-sea mining. “There&#8217;s a real need to be looking at ocean systems, including our coasts and the shorebirds that rely on the ocean and coastal systems,” Fraenkel said. “I was happy to see that at this COP, we started to do that.” But while conservation advocates lauded the steps taken at COP15, the summit also issued stark warnings that extinction and species decline are accelerating. The U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) World&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/migratory-species-summit-adopts-new-marine-protections-amid-extinction-warnings/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/migratory-species-summit-adopts-new-marine-protections-amid-extinction-warnings/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317143</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>American Samoa said ‘no’ to deep sea mining, Washington heard ‘faster’ (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/american-samoa-said-no-to-deep-sea-mining-washington-heard-faster-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/american-samoa-said-no-to-deep-sea-mining-washington-heard-faster-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Apr 2026 16:07:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jackie Dragon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/31170320/50928446358_f3bcd48e6c_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316722</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Guam, Pacific Ocean, Samoa, United States, and United States Minor Outlying Islands]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Commentary, Conservation, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Ethics, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Marine, Marine Conservation, Mining, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[At 7:45 a.m. one recent January day in American Samoa, a delegation from Greenpeace and Pacific Island partners sat in a small radio studio explaining why we had traveled thousands of miles across the Pacific. We were invited by local leaders to the unincorporated U.S. territory — halfway between Hawai‘i and Australia — to listen, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[At 7:45 a.m. one recent January day in American Samoa, a delegation from Greenpeace and Pacific Island partners sat in a small radio studio explaining why we had traveled thousands of miles across the Pacific. We were invited by local leaders to the unincorporated U.S. territory — halfway between Hawai‘i and Australia — to listen, to learn, and to help elevate what people in American Samoa have been saying for years. Communities there are deeply concerned about deep-sea mining, and they want to be heard before decisions are made about the ocean that sustains them. Hours later, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) stood before local officials in a meeting space up the street, walking them through the steps of a federal leasing process that was already moving forward, fast. BOEM’s visit, even as the governor’s office convened space for community voices, felt less like consultation and more like choreography. The agency’s message was, in essence, we hear you, but we are moving forward. Meeting with the governor (center, in red) about the proposal, from left: Ekolu Lindsey, director of Maui Nui Makai Network; Sheila Sarhangi, director of Pacific Islands Heritage Coalition; Bobbi-Jo Dobush, independent ocean policy consultant, Salt Horizon LLC; American Samoa Governor Pula’ali’i Nikolao Pula; Solomon Kahoohalahala, Indigenous Hawaiian elder, Maui Nui Makai Network; Jackie Dragon, senior oceans campaigner, Greenpeace USA; Arlo Hemphill, Greenpeace USA&#8217;s campaign lead on deep sea mining. Image courtesy of Greenpeace USA. BOEM received more than 76,000 public comments, most warning of environmental&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/american-samoa-said-no-to-deep-sea-mining-washington-heard-faster-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/american-samoa-said-no-to-deep-sea-mining-washington-heard-faster-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316722</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>With high seas treaty in place, West African countries plan for protected area</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/with-high-seas-treaty-in-place-west-african-countries-plan-for-protected-area/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/with-high-seas-treaty-in-place-west-african-countries-plan-for-protected-area/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Mar 2026 12:51:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/31110647/b.-Sei_whale_mother_and_calf_Christin_Khan_NOAA1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316629</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Economics, Environment, Environmental Law, Fishing, Governance, Mining, Plastic, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With the High Seas Treaty coming into force in January, efforts to establish protected areas in the marine spaces that lie beyond countries’ jurisdiction are gaining momentum — including one off the coast of West Africa. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is taking the lead in designing the proposal that will be [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With the High Seas Treaty coming into force in January, efforts to establish protected areas in the marine spaces that lie beyond countries’ jurisdiction are gaining momentum — including one off the coast of West Africa. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is taking the lead in designing the proposal that will be up for consideration at the first Conference of Parties for the High Seas Treaty. The meeting is scheduled to take place within a year of the treaty coming into effect. Covering almost half of the Earth’s surface, the high seas host tremendous levels of biodiversity, much of it underexplored. However, these areas are also difficult to police, making them vulnerable to all sorts of illegal and unregulated activities, including exploitative industrial trawling. The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction accord (BBNJ), commonly known as the High Seas Treaty, provides the framework to establish marine protected areas in waters beyond countries’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs). However, the institutions and mechanisms to operationalize the treaty are still being established. The area under consideration in West Africa includes the convergence zone of the colder Canary and warmer Guinea Currents, characterized by a strong upwelling and nutrient-rich waters. It is considered an ecologically or biologically significant marine area (EBSA) that stretches from Cape Verde and Senegal in the north to Nigeria and São Tomé and Príncipe in the south, according to ECOWAS representatives Mongabay spoke to. A hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata). Image ©&#xfe0f; Rod Sleath via iNaturalist. (CC BY-NC 4.0).&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/with-high-seas-treaty-in-place-west-african-countries-plan-for-protected-area/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/with-high-seas-treaty-in-place-west-african-countries-plan-for-protected-area/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316629</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous concerns surface as U.S. agency considers seabed mining in Alaskan waters</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indigenous-concerns-surface-as-u-s-agency-considers-seabed-mining-in-alaskan-waters/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indigenous-concerns-surface-as-u-s-agency-considers-seabed-mining-in-alaskan-waters/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Feb 2026 16:27:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anita Hofschneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/06/04113736/alaska-whale-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314054</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation and Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Alaska, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Critical Minerals, Culture, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Mining, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A U.S. federal agency is considering allowing companies to lease more than 45.7 million hectares (113 million acres) of waters off Alaska for seabed mining. Alaska is the latest of several places President Donald Trump has sought to open to the fledging industry over the past year, including waters around American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A U.S. federal agency is considering allowing companies to lease more than 45.7 million hectares (113 million acres) of waters off Alaska for seabed mining. Alaska is the latest of several places President Donald Trump has sought to open to the fledging industry over the past year, including waters around American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Like those Pacific islands, Alaska is home to Indigenous peoples with ancestral ties to the ocean, and the proposal is raising cultural and environmental concerns. Deep-sea mining, the practice of scraping minerals off the ocean floor for commercial products like electric vehicle batteries and military technology, is not yet a commercial industry. It’s been slowed by the lack of regulations governing permits in international waters and by concerns about the environmental impact of extracting minerals that formed over millions of years. Scientists have warned the practice could damage fisheries and fragile ecosystems that could take millennia to recover. Indigenous peoples have also pushed back, citing violations of their rights to consent to projects in their territories. Trump, however, has voiced strong support for the industry as part of his effort to make the United States a leader in critical mineral production. He has also pushed for U.S. companies to mine in international waters, bypassing ongoing global negotiations over international mining regulations. Kate Finn, a citizen of the Osage Nation and executive director of the Tallgrass Institute Center for Indigenous Economic Stewardship in Colorado, said she worries the seabed mining industry will repeat the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indigenous-concerns-surface-as-u-s-agency-considers-seabed-mining-in-alaskan-waters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indigenous-concerns-surface-as-u-s-agency-considers-seabed-mining-in-alaskan-waters/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314054</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A new treaty comes into force to govern life on the high seas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/a-new-treaty-comes-into-force-to-govern-life-on-the-high-seas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/a-new-treaty-comes-into-force-to-govern-life-on-the-high-seas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jan 2026 00:03:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/23132836/FKt240708-S0690-20240714T215920Z-scicam-Casper_Octopus-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312926</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Governance, Green, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For most of modern history, the open ocean has been treated as a place apart. Beyond the 200-nautical-mile limits of national jurisdiction, it was governed by custom, fragmented rules, and the assumption that what lay far offshore was too vast to manage and too resilient to exhaust. That assumption has worn thin. On January 17th [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For most of modern history, the open ocean has been treated as a place apart. Beyond the 200-nautical-mile limits of national jurisdiction, it was governed by custom, fragmented rules, and the assumption that what lay far offshore was too vast to manage and too resilient to exhaust. That assumption has worn thin. On January 17th 2026, a new United Nations agreement—the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction accord, or BBNJ—will enter into force, creating the first global framework aimed explicitly at conserving life in the waters and seabed beyond national borders. Oceanic manta rays photo courtesy of Mark Erdmann The scale of what it covers is hard to overstate. Areas beyond national jurisdiction account for roughly 60% of the ocean and more than 40% of the planet’s surface. They include deep trenches, seamount chains, midwater ecosystems, and the largely unseen communities that regulate nutrient cycles and store vast amounts of carbon. Less than 1.5% of this space is currently protected in any formal sense. Fishing, shipping, bioprospecting, and exploratory mining have expanded there faster than the rules governing them. BBNJ is an attempt to close that gap. Finalized in 2023 after two decades of negotiation, the treaty passed the threshold for entry into force when Morocco became the 60th country to ratify it last September. More than 80 states are now full parties, according to the High Seas Ratification Tracker. The United States helped shape the text but has not ratified it. The agreement rests on four pillars. An Ocean sunfish (Mola&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/a-new-treaty-comes-into-force-to-govern-life-on-the-high-seas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/a-new-treaty-comes-into-force-to-govern-life-on-the-high-seas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312926</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deep-sea mining interests raise alarms among Mariana Trench communities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/deep-sea-mining-interests-raise-alarms-among-mariana-trench-communities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/deep-sea-mining-interests-raise-alarms-among-mariana-trench-communities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Dec 2025 16:02:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/10140058/o.-Sea-Cucumber-Ocean-Exploration-Trusts-cam1_20250516105916-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311050</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Pacific Ocean and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Critical Minerals, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Governance, Invertebrates, Marine, Mining, Oceans, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[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 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[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&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/deep-sea-mining-interests-raise-alarms-among-mariana-trench-communities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311050</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Clean energy is just one driver of mining’: Cleodie Rickard on critical minerals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/when-critical-minerals-arent-interview-with-cleodie-rickard/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/when-critical-minerals-arent-interview-with-cleodie-rickard/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Nov 2025 08:13:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/23232540/2_ACASCIO_LiberoCopper_Stone-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309308</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and United Kingdom]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Clean Energy, Climate Change, Climate Justice, cobalt, Copper, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea Mining, Energy, Fossil Fuels, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Land Rights, Lithium, Mining, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For Cleodie Rickard, the policy and campaigns manager at Global Justice Now, the term “critical” minerals, commonly used to describe the metals vital for the green energy transition, can be misleading. A new Global Justice Now report, authored by Rickard, reveals that nearly one in five minerals labeled “critical” by the U.K. aren’t essential for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For Cleodie Rickard, the policy and campaigns manager at Global Justice Now, the term “critical” minerals, commonly used to describe the metals vital for the green energy transition, can be misleading. A new Global Justice Now report, authored by Rickard, reveals that nearly one in five minerals labeled “critical” by the U.K. aren’t essential for the green energy transition. In fact, more than half of the 33 minerals have little to no role in the transition, with five prioritized for aerospace and weapons instead. What makes a mineral “critical,” Rickard says, depends largely on each country’s strategic and geopolitical objectives, not just its role in clean energy. She says multinational mining companies and governments can often use the green energy transition as a pretext to ramp up mining projects, even though a lot of the minerals are intended for other purposes, such as the military sector and AI infrastructure. Countries also have differing definitions of which minerals are considered “critical” or “strategic.” “The term ‘critical minerals’ is often used to secure political and economic support for resource exploration,” Filipe Gabriel Mura, a Mura Indigenous leader from Brazil, tells Mongabay via WhatsApp. “But the problem is that [the term] groups together different minerals with very different purposes. Not all of them are essential to the energy transition, and many serve the defense or agribusiness industries.” Gabriel says this is the case in the Mura Lago dos Soares community in the Amazonas state, where a potassium project, a mineral classified as essential&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/when-critical-minerals-arent-interview-with-cleodie-rickard/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309308</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Expedition charts Cook Islands seafloor, amid scrutiny over mining motives</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/expedition-charts-cook-islands-seafloor-amid-scrutiny-over-mining-motives/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/expedition-charts-cook-islands-seafloor-amid-scrutiny-over-mining-motives/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2025 20:46:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/06115614/Sea-cucumber-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308942</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cook Islands, Oceania, and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Exploration, Mapping, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Mining, Oceans, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Thousands of meters below the ocean’s surface, a camera attached to a remotely operated vehicle captured a ghostly white creature gliding above a plain of polymetallic nodules — mineral-rich rocks that resemble blackened potatoes. The animal’s orchid-shaped fins undulated as it cruised through the water, while its spindly tentacles trailed behind. This otherworldly creature was [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Thousands of meters below the ocean’s surface, a camera attached to a remotely operated vehicle captured a ghostly white creature gliding above a plain of polymetallic nodules — mineral-rich rocks that resemble blackened potatoes. The animal’s orchid-shaped fins undulated as it cruised through the water, while its spindly tentacles trailed behind. This otherworldly creature was a bigfin squid (genus Magnapinna), an organism that scientists have spotted fewer than two dozen times, and one that has never been physically captured. Adam Soule, a geologist and oceanographer who directs the U.S.-based Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute, the organization leading the expedition on a vessel known as the E/V Nautilus, said the bigfin squid sighting generated a rush of excitement. (The Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute and its U.S.-based partner organization, the Ocean Exploration Trust, are operating via a 10-year grant worth $200 million from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA). &nbsp; “One of the cool things about the Nautilus is that there&#8217;s a lot of people following online, watching in real time and sending in comments,” Soule told Mongabay. “And they were amazed. They were really excited, as was everyone on the ship.” The footage of the bigfin squid was filmed at a depth of more than 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Cook Islands, a small Pacific island nation located between American Samoa and French Polynesia. The entire Cook Islands EEZ, which spans 1.9 million square kilometers (about 734,000 square miles), also operates as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/expedition-charts-cook-islands-seafloor-amid-scrutiny-over-mining-motives/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/expedition-charts-cook-islands-seafloor-amid-scrutiny-over-mining-motives/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308942</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>On first International Day of the Deep Seabed, we seek stewardship and consensus (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/on-first-international-day-of-the-deep-seabed-we-seek-stewardship-and-consensus-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/on-first-international-day-of-the-deep-seabed-we-seek-stewardship-and-consensus-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Oct 2025 08:51:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Leticia Carvalho]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/28100701/Ifremer-Taxonomy-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308301</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Global, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Commentary, Conservation, Corporate Social Responsibility, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environmental Law, Governance, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Mining, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Beneath the waves of the high seas, beyond the national borders of any country, lies the deep seabed. Known in international law as the “Area,” it covers 54% of the global ocean and lies at depths from 200 to 10,000 meters (from 660 to almost 33,000 feet) below the ocean&#8217;s surface. It is home to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Beneath the waves of the high seas, beyond the national borders of any country, lies the deep seabed. Known in international law as the “Area,” it covers 54% of the global ocean and lies at depths from 200 to 10,000 meters (from 660 to almost 33,000 feet) below the ocean&#8217;s surface. It is home to ancient geological formations and ecosystems that most may not know enough about to even picture in their mind: abyssal plains, seamounts and hydrothermal vents, some soaring 35 m (115 ft) high, millions of years in the making. These ecosystems exist in extreme conditions of perpetual darkness, high pressure and near-freezing temperatures. Even in these circumstances, life finds a way, largely living on chemical versus sunlight sources of energy. Geological processes in the Area have led to rich mineral resources, including polymetallic nodules, polymetallic sulfides and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts, among others, that could play a role in the future of humanity’s progress. A jellyfish (family Rhopalonematidae) photographed at a depth of around 3,000 m (9,800 feet) at the Utu seamount off American Samoa in 2017. Image by NOAA Ocean Exploration via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). It is through this lens that I could not be more delighted to celebrate this inaugural International Day of the Deep Seabed. Proposed by the governments of Fiji, Jamaica, Malta and Singapore, their initiative reflects a shared commitment to raising awareness about the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the 1994 Implementation Agreement. These brought into existence the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/on-first-international-day-of-the-deep-seabed-we-seek-stewardship-and-consensus-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/on-first-international-day-of-the-deep-seabed-we-seek-stewardship-and-consensus-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308301</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mining the deep-sea could further threaten endangered sharks and rays</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/mining-the-deep-sea-could-further-threaten-endangered-sharks-and-rays/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/mining-the-deep-sea-could-further-threaten-endangered-sharks-and-rays/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Oct 2025 13:51:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/20130006/Manta-Ray-Swimming-in-Indonesia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307965</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Elasmobranchs, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Extinction, Fish, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Mining, Oceans, Rays, Sharks, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New research has found that deep-sea mining in international waters could threaten at least 30 species of sharks, rays and chimaeras — many of which are already at risk of extinction. Chondrichthyes, the class of cartilaginous fish that includes sharks, rays and chimaeras, are among the most threatened vertebrates on Earth, with more than 37% [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[New research has found that deep-sea mining in international waters could threaten at least 30 species of sharks, rays and chimaeras — many of which are already at risk of extinction. Chondrichthyes, the class of cartilaginous fish that includes sharks, rays and chimaeras, are among the most threatened vertebrates on Earth, with more than 37% of species at risk of extinction due to overfishing and habitat loss, the study notes. Now, scientists warn that these animals could face new threats if deep-sea mining kicks off in international waters. While commercial deep-sea mining has not yet started, some companies are looking to launch operations in the near future. Yet significant uncertainties remain about the environmental impacts of this proposed industry, in which miners would send heavy machinery into the deep ocean to collect valuable minerals, such as manganese, cobalt, copper and nickel. “Many animals haven’t been accounted for in the potential impacts of deep-sea mining,” Aaron Judah, lead author of the new study and a doctoral student at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, told Mongabay. “There has been work on migrating fishes in the water column, invertebrates on the seafloor, and microbes — but a lot of the top predators have been left out of a lot of the discussions. There’s been recent work done in whales, but sharks and rays were just mostly not included whatsoever.” Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are one of the species identified to be impacted by deep-sea mining. Image © Julie Larsen. How could deep-sea&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/mining-the-deep-sea-could-further-threaten-endangered-sharks-and-rays/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/mining-the-deep-sea-could-further-threaten-endangered-sharks-and-rays/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307965</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Super big deal’: High seas treaty reaches enough ratifications to become law</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/super-big-deal-high-seas-treaty-reaches-enough-ratifications-to-become-law/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/super-big-deal-high-seas-treaty-reaches-enough-ratifications-to-become-law/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Sep 2025 20:28:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/23164321/OceanImageBank_RenataRomeo_64-scaled-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306450</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Fishing, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Overfishing, Politics, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A major treaty establishing a framework for the world’s nations to jointly manage marine conservation in international waters, which cover about half of the Earth’s surface, has reached enough ratifications to become international law. It will come into force in January. The deal, known as the agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A major treaty establishing a framework for the world’s nations to jointly manage marine conservation in international waters, which cover about half of the Earth’s surface, has reached enough ratifications to become international law. It will come into force in January. The deal, known as the agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ), was reached in 2023 with much fanfare in marine conservation circles. But like any international agreement, the high seas treaty, as it’s often called, didn’t just become law overnight. It required 60 countries to ratify it to enter into force. Now, with unusual speed by the standards of such deals, it’s reached that threshold. Morocco deposited its instrument of acceptance on Sept. 19, becoming the 60th country to do so. That launched a 120-day period until the treaty will become binding international law, on Jan. 17, 2026. Experts and advocates celebrated the occasion, calling it a win for conservation and international cooperation. “This is a super big deal, both for ocean protection and for proving that there&#8217;s still hope in multilateralism, that countries can come together and do big things, even in these times where there&#8217;s so much discord across the world,” Arlo Hemphill, an oceans project lead at Greenpeace USA, told Mongabay. Morocco’s mission to the U.N. called it “a milestone for the protection of the ocean, the strengthening of multilateralism, and the collective commitment of the international community to safeguarding marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction” in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/super-big-deal-high-seas-treaty-reaches-enough-ratifications-to-become-law/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/super-big-deal-high-seas-treaty-reaches-enough-ratifications-to-become-law/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306450</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deep-sea mining is a false solution to our challenges (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/deep-sea-mining-is-a-false-solution-to-our-challenges-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/deep-sea-mining-is-a-false-solution-to-our-challenges-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Aug 2025 16:53:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pradeep Singh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/29120433/Richard-BaronThe-Metals-Company-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304564</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Circular Economy, Commentary, Conservation, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Energy, Environment, Governance, Marine, Marine Conservation, Mining, Oceans, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The deep sea, the planet’s most expansive and least understood ecosystem, remains largely unexplored. Yet while the deep sea may seem a dark and distant space, events underwater directly impact our lives, from essential services like climate regulation to fisheries and the marine food web. While scientific understanding of this realm is nascent, a new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The deep sea, the planet’s most expansive and least understood ecosystem, remains largely unexplored. Yet while the deep sea may seem a dark and distant space, events underwater directly impact our lives, from essential services like climate regulation to fisheries and the marine food web. While scientific understanding of this realm is nascent, a new industry is rapidly emerging driven by the demand for rare metals essential for batteries, microchips and AI: deep-sea mining. In the past three years, more than 38 nations have voiced support for a moratorium on deep-sea mining, a rapid pace by the standards of multilateral lawmaking, and the equivalent of one new country signing on per month. This progress marks a major shift from just a few years ago, when states were either supportive of mining, reluctant to take a position, or were simply uninformed. The triggering of a treaty provision known as the “two-year rule” by the nation of Nauru in 2021, intended to accelerate deep-sea mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction, brought increased attention and scrutiny to the activity. Nevertheless, some private actors are pushing for the granting of applications for commercial deep-sea mining of minerals like copper, nickel and cobalt, despite significant concerns from global leaders, the scientific community and the public at large. A new species of Cnidaria collected at 4,100 meters that lives on sponge stalks attached to polymetallic nodules, like those which companies propose to mine. Image courtesy of Craig Smith and Diva Amon, ABYSSLINE Project. This divergence between&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/deep-sea-mining-is-a-false-solution-to-our-challenges-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/deep-sea-mining-is-a-false-solution-to-our-challenges-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304564</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>U.S. federal agency clears ways for deep-sea mining — and companies are lining up</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/u-s-federal-agency-clears-ways-for-deep-sea-mining-and-companies-are-lining-up/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/u-s-federal-agency-clears-ways-for-deep-sea-mining-and-companies-are-lining-up/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jul 2025 00:57:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/08051333/Iridigorgia_-_Flickr_-_NOAA_Ocean_Exploration_%5E_Research-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301999</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, North America, Oceania, Pacific Ocean, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Critical Minerals, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Governance, Green, Invertebrates, Marine, Mining, Oceans, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. On June 25, the United States Department of the Interior (DOI), a department within the federal government that manages the nation’s natural resources, announced plans to accelerate the initiation of deep-sea mining in U.S. waters, effectively enacting [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. On June 25, the United States Department of the Interior (DOI), a department within the federal government that manages the nation’s natural resources, announced plans to accelerate the initiation of deep-sea mining in U.S. waters, effectively enacting President Trump’s executive order that calls for fast-tracking the industry. As part of this effort to briskly move things along, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), an agency within DOI, will be introducing various policy changes, such as expediting the permitting process, extending the duration of prospecting permits and reducing the timelines for environmental reviews. Critics have raised concerns over these developments, not only due to the controversial nature of deep-sea mining, but also because of the hurried pace at which BOEM is advancing these plans. While deep-sea mining has not yet started anywhere in the world, many experts warn that the industry could cause irreversible harm to marine ecosystems that are already under substantial stress from human-driven climate change and other environmental pressures. Industry proponents, however, argue that deep-sea mining is vital for securing reliable supplies of critical minerals needed for the green transition, energy security and defense. The majority of deep-sea mining interest has focused on polymetallic nodules — potato-sized rocks containing nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese — but mineral deposits can also be found on the cobalt-rich crusts of seamounts or ridges, or the sulfide deposits around hydrothermal vents. These unassuming brown&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/u-s-federal-agency-clears-ways-for-deep-sea-mining-and-companies-are-lining-up/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/u-s-federal-agency-clears-ways-for-deep-sea-mining-and-companies-are-lining-up/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301999</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>PNG PM Marape rejects deep-sea mining even as provincial authorities try to revive project</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/png-pm-marape-rejects-deep-sea-mining-even-as-provincial-authorities-try-to-revive-project/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/png-pm-marape-rejects-deep-sea-mining-even-as-provincial-authorities-try-to-revive-project/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2025 09:20:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire AlbertsJohn Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/16075010/OceanImageBank_JayneJenkins_PNG_22-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300821</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Oceania and Papua New Guinea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, extractives, Global Environmental Crisis, Marine, Marine Conservation, Mining, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. NICE, France — James Marape, the prime minister of Papua New Guinea, voiced his government’s rejection of seabed mining at the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference that took place between June 9 and 13, in Nice, France. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. NICE, France — James Marape, the prime minister of Papua New Guinea, voiced his government’s rejection of seabed mining at the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference that took place between June 9 and 13, in Nice, France. His position stands in sharp contrast to the situation unfolding in the country’s New Ireland province, where local authorities are paving the way for foreign companies to begin mining the seabed, despite long-standing, community-led opposition to these developments. “As a country, we don&#8217;t want any deep-sea mining in Papua New Guinea,” Marape told Mongabay in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the U.N. Ocean Conference (UNOC) on June 10. He said his country would uphold its moratoria against the industry — one of which was announced in 2019, and another in 2023. The main reason for this position, he said, is that the seas around Papua New Guinea (PNG) are “sensitive and fragile” and are home to important fisheries. “Our waters are very fertile in as far as marine life is concerned,” he said, adding that scientific evidence on how mining might affect marine ecosystems is scant. A recent brief from the U.N. secretary-general’s scientific advisory board warns of “irreversible” potential impacts on sea life due to the destruction of seafloor habitat, sediment plumes and the release of toxins by deep-sea mining. While Marape publicly asserted his opposition to the nascent industry, a proposed project&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/png-pm-marape-rejects-deep-sea-mining-even-as-provincial-authorities-try-to-revive-project/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/png-pm-marape-rejects-deep-sea-mining-even-as-provincial-authorities-try-to-revive-project/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300821</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Madness’: World leaders call for deep-sea mining moratorium at UN ocean summit</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/madness-world-leaders-call-for-deep-sea-mining-moratorium-at-un-ocean-summit/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/madness-world-leaders-call-for-deep-sea-mining-moratorium-at-un-ocean-summit/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jun 2025 15:59:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/11152306/unoc-oceans-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300609</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[France, Global, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Marine, Marine Conservation, Mining, Oceans, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center&#8217;s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. NICE, France — At the 2025 U.N. Ocean Conference (UNOC), taking place in Nice, France, between June 9 and 13, world leaders renewed their call for a global moratorium on deep-sea mining, an emerging industry that many [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center&#8217;s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. NICE, France — At the 2025 U.N. Ocean Conference (UNOC), taking place in Nice, France, between June 9 and 13, world leaders renewed their call for a global moratorium on deep-sea mining, an emerging industry that many experts say could seriously and irreversibly damage marine ecosystems. At the opening plenary, French President Emmanuel Macron denounced deep-sea mining as “madness.” He described the prospective industry as a “predatory” activity that threatens to destroy the seabed and potentially release stored carbon. France was among the first countries to take a stand against deep-sea mining, calling for a ban in 2022. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres echoed Macron’s concerns, warning that the deep sea “cannot become the Wild West.” He also voiced strong support for the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the U.N.-affiliated body tasked with both regulating deep-sea mining in international waters and with protecting the seabed. Since 2022, 33 countries have called for a precautionary pause, moratorium, or ban on deep-sea mining. That number has since risen to 37 with the addition of Slovenia, Latvia, Cyprus and the Marshall Islands. “We cannot afford to miss the ocean&#8217;s capacity to absorb our carbon,” President Hilde Heine of the Marshall Islands told reporters in a press briefing on June 10. “A ban is the safest choice for nature [and] marine life.” The Normand Energy deploying the Patania II nodule collector visible (green). The vessel is chartered by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/madness-world-leaders-call-for-deep-sea-mining-moratorium-at-un-ocean-summit/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300609</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Only a tiny % of the deep seafloor has ever been visually observed: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/only-a-tiny-of-the-deep-seafloor-has-ever-been-visually-observed-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/only-a-tiny-of-the-deep-seafloor-has-ever-been-visually-observed-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 May 2025 16:24:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/30132656/2-Two-lithodid-crabs-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299946</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Environment, Exploration, Fish, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For national and international policymakers, decisions on how to regulate — and whether to allow — exploitative human activities such as deep-sea mining require good information. A new study suggests that when it comes to the ocean floor, they may not have it. Only 0.001% of the deep seafloor has ever been captured by photo [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For national and international policymakers, decisions on how to regulate — and whether to allow — exploitative human activities such as deep-sea mining require good information. A new study suggests that when it comes to the ocean floor, they may not have it. Only 0.001% of the deep seafloor has ever been captured by photo or video images, the study found. And that which has been captured is “biased” and potentially unrepresentative: 65% of observations have been in the waters of the United States, Japan or New Zealand, according to the study, which was published in the journal Science Advances on May 7. Lead author Katy Croff Bell, president of Ocean Discovery League, a U.S.-based nonprofit, said the study shows how much is still unknown about the deep sea and how much more research is required. “We’ve only seen 0.001%, and look at how much we know [from that] 0.001%,” she told Mongabay. “How much do we not know that’s yet to be discovered?” Ocean Discovery League president Katy Croff Bell prepares a low-cost winch system for deep-sea exploration during trials conducted off the coast of the U.S. state of Rhode Island in September 2023. Image courtesy of Ocean Discovery League/Susan Poulton. The deep sea is one of the hardest areas on Earth to study. The crushing pressure created by gravity, along with absolute darkness, make it hard to reach and navigate safely. “We know more about the dark side of the moon than we do about this, the deep&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/only-a-tiny-of-the-deep-seafloor-has-ever-been-visually-observed-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299946</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mining companies use legal loopholes to move forward without environmental licensing off the Brazilian coast</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/mining-companies-use-legal-loopholes-to-move-forward-without-environmental-licensing-off-the-brazilian-coast/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/mining-companies-use-legal-loopholes-to-move-forward-without-environmental-licensing-off-the-brazilian-coast/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 May 2025 08:11:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lúcio LambranhoMaurício Angelo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/30080448/Richard-BaronThe-Metals-Company-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299926</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Energy, Environment, Environmental Law, Marine, Marine Conservation, and Mining]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Interest in deep-sea mining has increased globally in recent years. And even as the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the U.N. body responsible for overseeing the activity in international waters, continues to deliberate its regulatory framework, companies seek out loopholes to get their projects underway. In Brazil, a study carried out by the Mining Observatory, a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Interest in deep-sea mining has increased globally in recent years. And even as the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the U.N. body responsible for overseeing the activity in international waters, continues to deliberate its regulatory framework, companies seek out loopholes to get their projects underway. In Brazil, a study carried out by the Mining Observatory, a Mongabay reporting partner, has revealed a surge in requests to prospect for minerals in Brazilian waters. Of the 950 applications registered with the National Mining Agency (ANM) since 1967, 456 were filed between 2020 and the end of 2024. Most sought permission to mine off the coasts of the states of Maranhão, Bahia and Espírito Santo. This boom of interest in seabed mineral deposits is driven by economic incentives, in particular the accelerated pace of the clean energy transition and demand for minerals that are strategic for renewable energy sources. Some are so strategic that they’re being used as an argument to justify exploration without sufficient environmental impact studies in sensitive zones such as the ocean floor. The substances most sought off the Brazilian coast are phosphate and potassium salts. These are followed closely by three types of limestone and calcareous shells, all of which are potential raw material for the fertilizer industry. A calcified red marine algae called Lithothamnion found in the deep waters off the Brazilian coast is the most cited substance in requests for environmental licensing. In its efforts to reduce its dependence on imports of these raw materials, Brazil has taken&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/mining-companies-use-legal-loopholes-to-move-forward-without-environmental-licensing-off-the-brazilian-coast/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/mining-companies-use-legal-loopholes-to-move-forward-without-environmental-licensing-off-the-brazilian-coast/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299926</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The Metals Company applied to the U.S. for a deep-sea mining license</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/the-metals-company-applied-to-the-u-s-for-a-deep-sea-mining-license/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/the-metals-company-applied-to-the-u-s-for-a-deep-sea-mining-license/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Apr 2025 08:10:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/03110924/deep-sea-octopus-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298378</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecology, Ecosystems, Energy, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Global Environmental Crisis, Marine, Mining, Oceans, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. Mere days after the Trump administration rolled out a controversial executive order directing the U.S. government to expedite the launch of deep-sea mining, The Metals Company (TMC) announced that it had applied for a license to mine [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. Mere days after the Trump administration rolled out a controversial executive order directing the U.S. government to expedite the launch of deep-sea mining, The Metals Company (TMC) announced that it had applied for a license to mine the deep seabed. If approved, the Canadian firm, which is listed on the Nasdaq in New York, could become the first deep-sea mining company to obtain a license to exploit minerals in international waters. It would also be the first to do so under the self-declared authority of the U.S. Many experts say the move could not only violate international law, but also inflict immense, potentially irreversible damage on marine ecosystems. In a statement released April 29, the company said its newly rebranded U.S. subsidiary, The Metals Company USA LLC (TMC USA), had submitted applications for a commercial recovery permit — in other words, an exploitation license — along with two exploration licenses. These applications fall under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA), a law Congress originally established in 1980, authorizing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a scientific and regulatory agency of the U.S. government, to issue mining permits under it. According to TMC, its mining application focuses on a 25,160-square-kilometer (9,714-square-mile) area of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, that it refers to as “TMC USA-A_2.” The company said that this specific area includes parts&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/the-metals-company-applied-to-the-u-s-for-a-deep-sea-mining-license/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298378</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>With deep-sea mining plans in limbo, Norwegian companies fold or dig in</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/with-deep-sea-mining-plans-in-limbo-norwegian-companies-fold-or-dig-in/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/with-deep-sea-mining-plans-in-limbo-norwegian-companies-fold-or-dig-in/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Apr 2025 08:34:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/21170043/FK210726-Dive443-BubblegumCoral-20210728-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=297813</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic, Arctic Ocean, Europe, European Union, and Norway]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Environment, Environmental Law, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Industry, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Mining, Oceans, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. BERGEN, Norway — It’s been nearly five months since the Norwegian government paused its controversial plans to launch deep-sea mining in Arctic waters. This proposed industry aims to generate supplies of critical minerals, but critics say the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. BERGEN, Norway — It’s been nearly five months since the Norwegian government paused its controversial plans to launch deep-sea mining in Arctic waters. This proposed industry aims to generate supplies of critical minerals, but critics say the cost to the marine environment could be devastating. Some Norwegian deep-sea mining companies have faced significant financial struggles due to the delay, with one going bankrupt and another slashing costs. Yet other firms, and the government itself, remain optimistic, insisting the industry&#8217;s future is still secure. Anette Broch Mathisen Tvedt, the young CEO of the Bergen-based deep-sea mining startup Adepth Minerals, is in the latter camp. She told Mongabay the delay isn’t ideal, but that she’s not overly concerned. “I&#8217;m not worried about the future of deep-sea mining,” Tvedt said during an interview at Bergen University’s natural history museum. “This is a lengthy process, but I believe our government will initiate the process.” Tvedt, whose friendly demeanor makes her one of the more approachable figures in the Norwegian deep-sea mining industry, said Adepth will use the time leading up to the licensing round, tentatively planned for 2026, to focus on data analysis and the development of new seabed mining technologies. She said the company is also using this time to raise public awareness about its work, which she says is gaining broader support due to global events such as the Russian war in Ukraine and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/with-deep-sea-mining-plans-in-limbo-norwegian-companies-fold-or-dig-in/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-297813</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deep-sea miner TMC seeks U.S. approval, potentially bypassing global regulator</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/deep-sea-miner-tmc-seeks-u-s-approval-potentially-bypassing-global-regulator/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/deep-sea-miner-tmc-seeks-u-s-approval-potentially-bypassing-global-regulator/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Mar 2025 18:37:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/03132851/GP1T5SR3_PressMedia-2500px-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296658</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecology, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, extractives, Global Environmental Crisis, Industry, Oceans, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. Canadian deep-sea mining firm The Metals Company (TMC) has announced it &#8220;initiated a process&#8221; with U.S. regulators to apply for both exploration and exploitation licenses, potentially circumventing the international regulator. TMC’s process with the U.S. National Oceanic [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. Canadian deep-sea mining firm The Metals Company (TMC) has announced it &#8220;initiated a process&#8221; with U.S. regulators to apply for both exploration and exploitation licenses, potentially circumventing the international regulator. TMC’s process with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration falls under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980 (DSHMRA), which was established as an interim legal framework for the recovery of seabed mineral resources prior to the creation of an international regulatory framework under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). A spokesperson for NOAA, who declined to be named, confirmed that TMC had requested to initiate a pre-application consultation process. TMC made the announcement via a press release and a public-facing investor call just before the conclusion of the latest meeting of the 36-member council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the U.N.-affiliated regulator responsible for overseeing deep-sea mining in international waters. For the past two weeks, ISA delegates have been working to finalize the mining code — a set of rules, regulations and procedures that would allow deep-sea mining to proceed on the high seas — which they’d aimed to complete this year, based on a loose deadline set in 2023. However, observers say the mining code remains far from finished, with unresolved issues including how to distribute royalty payments and how to protect the environment. Even TMC’s CEO, Gerard Barron, who had&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/deep-sea-miner-tmc-seeks-u-s-approval-potentially-bypassing-global-regulator/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296658</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>2024’s top ocean news stories (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/2024s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/2024s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jan 2025 16:47:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alfredo GironAna K. SpaldingAndrés Cisneros-MontemayorAsha de VosCinda P. ScottJosheena NaggeaJuan José AlavaOlivia MillowayRita Maria el Zaghloul]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/08100341/OceanImageBank_WarrenBaverstock_03-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292728</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biocultural Diversity, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Saltwater Fish, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[1. Long-awaited plastics treaty flops, for now Despite around-the-clock efforts from delegates, negotiators and numerous advocacy groups, the fifth session of the U.N. Environment Programme’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) on plastic pollution failed to pass the Global Plastics Treaty as a legally binding instrument by the end of negotiations Dec. 1. Recommended by a 2022 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[1. Long-awaited plastics treaty flops, for now Despite around-the-clock efforts from delegates, negotiators and numerous advocacy groups, the fifth session of the U.N. Environment Programme’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) on plastic pollution failed to pass the Global Plastics Treaty as a legally binding instrument by the end of negotiations Dec. 1. Recommended by a 2022 U.N. Environment Assembly resolution, the proposed treaty would end global plastic pollution by 2040. Although marine plastic pollution is one of the greatest environmental problems facing planet Earth today, the treaty did not pass at least in part because of very strong lobbying by the petrochemical and plastic industries and some member states. Because INC-5 was unable to produce a treaty that would reduce global primary plastic polymer production, lower the amount of chemicals of concern and help eliminate plastic pollution in our oceans, an additional meeting, dubbed INC-5.2, is expected to officially conclude the negotiations in July or August 2025. This follow-up, and hopefully last, meeting will be of paramount importance to reiterate the need to limit global plastics production and eliminate pollution for marine life and the most vulnerable coastal communities who rely on the ocean for their livelihoods. Among those present at INC-5 was the Scientists’ Coalition for an Effective Plastic Treaty, an international nonprofit of which one of us is a member. The coalition made the case for using science-based evidence to better target both sources of and solutions to plastic pollution, and it will continue to do so at INC-5.2,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/2024s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292728</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>We need a North Pole Marine Reserve to secure a healthy future for Arctic waters (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/we-need-a-north-pole-marine-reserve-to-secure-a-healthy-future-for-arctic-waters-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/we-need-a-north-pole-marine-reserve-to-secure-a-healthy-future-for-arctic-waters-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jan 2025 20:29:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dr. Graeme Chesters]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/09/23141533/Narwhal-banner-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292655</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic, Arctic Ocean, and Canada]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Commentary, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Overfishing, Saltwater Fish, and Shifting Baselines]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the 1990s, a single moratorium announcement wiped out an entire industry, leaving 37,000 people unemployed overnight. The ecological collapse of the Canadian Grand Banks Cod Fisheries is the most famous historical example of a collapse in fish stocks due to overfishing. Not only were cod stocks severely depleted, it was the largest layoff of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the 1990s, a single moratorium announcement wiped out an entire industry, leaving 37,000 people unemployed overnight. The ecological collapse of the Canadian Grand Banks Cod Fisheries is the most famous historical example of a collapse in fish stocks due to overfishing. Not only were cod stocks severely depleted, it was the largest layoff of workers in one day, and the biggest ever industrial layoff in Canada&#8217;s history: fishing fleets, processing plants, associated support businesses were all impacted when the moratorium was declared. It devastated coastal communities in Newfoundland and Labrador and led to significant migration, changing some of those communities forever. Five years ago this month, the Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Agreement (CAOFA) was signed by Arctic Coastal States, in an example of unprecedented international collaboration based upon the precautionary principle, which put in place a moratorium on fishing in the CAO until 2037, thereby protecting Arctic Ocean species from commercial exploitation as the sea ice retreats. In effect, this moratorium establishes a temporary marine reserve for fish populations that are increasingly moving north as waters warm. This is Arctic exceptionalism in practice, a recognition that the CAO can be, as often heralded, a common heritage of humankind, a unique global inheritance that must be protected and preserved through an Arctic Treaty System, providing in practice a North Pole Marine Reserve. Why think about this now? This year, the moratorium on cod fishing on the Grand Banks was lifted. Thirty-two years on – and in the teeth of opposition&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/we-need-a-north-pole-marine-reserve-to-secure-a-healthy-future-for-arctic-waters-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292655</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>India advances deep-sea mining technology in the Andaman Sea</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/india-advances-deep-sea-mining-technology-in-the-andaman-sea/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/india-advances-deep-sea-mining-technology-in-the-andaman-sea/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Nov 2024 16:23:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/11/20144332/andaman-coral-fish-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=290371</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, Indian Ocean, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Policy, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Industry, Marine, Marine Conservation, Mining, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[India’s government organization dedicated to developing technologies for exploring and harnessing ocean resources has been exploring parts of the Indian Ocean for the last few years. In October, the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) conducted a successful exploratory mining trial in the Andaman Sea, between India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Myanmar, for obtaining [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[India’s government organization dedicated to developing technologies for exploring and harnessing ocean resources has been exploring parts of the Indian Ocean for the last few years. In October, the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) conducted a successful exploratory mining trial in the Andaman Sea, between India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Myanmar, for obtaining polymetallic nodules from the seabed. This trial followed surveys and identification of polymetallic nodules within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) by the Geological Survey of India (GSI). The Indian government has rights to explore this area in the sea, which extends approximately 200 nautical miles from the coast, for resources. The area includes the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, and the Lakshadweep Island group in the Laccadive Sea. The scientists at NIOT, under India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences, employed a machine called Varaha-3, specially designed for this location. “A machine was developed that can withstand the rigors in the Andaman Sea with it being a rocky area, very unlike the soft soil found at the abyssal plain, and also mine with minimal environmental impact,” said a senior scientist from the deep-sea mining team at NIOT, who asked not to be named citing a team effort. Varaha-3 weighs six to seven tons under water and has a comb-type collector mechanism to pick up nodules embedded in the sea floor. What are polymetallic nodules? The ocean bed has tons of potato-sized rocks, formed over millions of years, called&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/india-advances-deep-sea-mining-technology-in-the-andaman-sea/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290371</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Norway poised to sail past opposition with deep-sea mining licensing plans</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/norway-poised-to-sail-past-opposition-with-deep-sea-mining-licensing-plans/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/norway-poised-to-sail-past-opposition-with-deep-sea-mining-licensing-plans/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Oct 2024 19:19:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/10/07163849/orca-in-norway-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=288293</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic, Arctic Ocean, Europe, European Union, and Norway]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Environment, Environmental Law, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Industry, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Mining, Oceans, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Norway is poised to move forward with plans to mine for seabed minerals along its continental shelf despite public opposition. On June 26, the Norwegian Ministry of Energy released a proposal for the first licensing round for mining of seabed minerals, setting out areas where companies could eventually apply for licenses. The proposal included a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Norway is poised to move forward with plans to mine for seabed minerals along its continental shelf despite public opposition. On June 26, the Norwegian Ministry of Energy released a proposal for the first licensing round for mining of seabed minerals, setting out areas where companies could eventually apply for licenses. The proposal included a total of 386 blocks, constituting nearly 106,000 square kilometers (40,900 square miles), an area about the size of Iceland, that could potentially be used for mining activities. In January, Norway earmarked a total of 281,000 km2 (108,500 mi2) for mining after a majority of Parliament voted to push forward with the industry. The proposed blocks include areas rich in sulfides and manganese crusts, which contain in-demand minerals such as copper, zinc, cobalt and rare earth elements. Some proposed blocks overlap with active hydrothermal vent systems, although the government has said it will not allow mining to take place at active vent sites. The licensing round proposal included a three-month public consultation period, which closed Sept. 26. Astrid Bergmål, a state secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Energy, told Mongabay the government will review all public consultation responses before announcing which areas to officially open for mining. She added that the government will base its decisions on “new, updated knowledge obtained by both state and commercial actors.” However, the government has given no indication that the granting of these license areas could be delayed or stopped based on feedback it had received. Terje Aasland, Norway’s minister&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/norway-poised-to-sail-past-opposition-with-deep-sea-mining-licensing-plans/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-288293</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The ocean ‘belongs to all of us’: Interview with Palau President Whipps</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/the-ocean-belongs-to-all-of-us-interview-with-palau-president-whipps/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/the-ocean-belongs-to-all-of-us-interview-with-palau-president-whipps/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Sep 2024 20:35:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/05165747/clown-fish-and-anemone-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=287005</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Oceania, Pacific Islands, and Palau]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deep Sea Mining, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Interviews, Islands, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Surangel S. Whipps Jr., president of the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau, wants more countries to join him in calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining. This prospective industry, also called seabed mining, aims to extract sought-after minerals like copper, cobalt and rare earth metals from the deep seabed. As global interest in deep-sea [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Surangel S. Whipps Jr., president of the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau, wants more countries to join him in calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining. This prospective industry, also called seabed mining, aims to extract sought-after minerals like copper, cobalt and rare earth metals from the deep seabed. As global interest in deep-sea mining grows, nations have been divided on whether to allow the industry to proceed. Advocates say the industry could procure critical minerals for “green” technologies like electric batteries and provide economic benefits for Pacific nations dealing with sea level rise and other impacts of climate change. Critics say it would cause large-scale and irreparable destruction of the seabed and surrounding marine environment, and that seafloor minerals aren’t necessary for renewable energy technologies and other commodities. At the U.N. Ocean Conference in Lisbon in 2022, Whipps, who had taken office a year earlier, became one of the first world leaders to officially call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining, along with leaders from Fiji, Samoa, Tuvalu, and Guam. Additionally, Palau and Fiji announced the formation of an alliance of nations calling for similar measures. Since then, a total of 32 nations have called for a moratorium or precautionary pause on deep-sea mining — both positions stipulating an official pause, albeit with different terminology. At one point, France even called for an outright ban. However, these calls have not been enough to stop the industry from moving forward. While commercial-scale exploitation of the seabed has not yet&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/the-ocean-belongs-to-all-of-us-interview-with-palau-president-whipps/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-287005</doi>				</item>
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