Deep Sea Future is Red, White, and Blue – KTH

Many Americans will recognize the importance of Hawaii and Alaska like any other state, because both have played vital roles in the 20th Century that show up in our history books.

But, what about the other parts of the American map that are not shown with the lower 48?

More specifically, what about American Samoa?

I am assuming all of you are trying to figure out something other than that player on your favorite NFL or college football team!

Fair enough, American Samoans are incredible football players.

But, they are also incredible fishers!

And their territory might become the wealthiest place on the world map!

Pacific National Monuments

Going back to the days of President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), all US Presidents have publicly sought the conservation of the Pacific Ocean to varying degrees.

After all, the results of the Spanish-American War (1898) made US territory in the Pacific larger than any other region.

And while some of this has been lost like the Philippines, others have been added marking the USA’s vast control of the world’s most important ocean.

With the growing concerns about overfishing and the explosion of the environmentalist movements’ focus on the oceans, all of a sudden the post-2000s has become a century focused on de-commidfying much of the Pacific.

Thus, President George W. Bush (2001-2009) established the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument around the Northwest Hawaiian Islands in 2006 and through his work and President Barack Obama (2009-2017), the national monument was extended, giving Particularly Sensitive Sea Area status to eliminate commercial fishing, becoming larger than all American national parks combined.

But, the two administrations were not satisfied with protecting only Hawaii.

Have you ever seen “U.S. Minor Outlying Islands” on applications or subscriptions before? Well, these are the US territories with very few to 0 inhabitants living there. One is in the Caribbean Sea: Navassa Island. The others are all in the Pacific with Midway Atoll in the Hawaiian Islands, Wake Island near the Marshall Islands, and the rest between Hawaii and Kiribati in the Central Pacific: Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, and Palmyra Atoll.

In 2009, President George W. Bush made these areas a part of the Pacific Remote Islands Area Marine National Monument (PRIMNM), which with President Obama’s extension, became the world’s largest marine protected area.

And, stretching into the South Pacific sat one last bastion of American land:  American Samoa!

Here in 2009, President George W. Bush established the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument and later in 2014, President Obama combined this with the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa to make this the largest of the USA’s designated national marine sanctuaries.

So, as you can see in the very helpful maps provided by the government institutions in the US, a lot of the middle Pacific has been protected for nearly 20 years.

In fact, there are many more US Pacific national monument and sanctuaries such as the Marianas Trench National Marine Monument established by President George W. Bush in 2009 covering parts of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam.

These four national monuments and sanctuaries provide vital habitat for endemic and endangered species and promote better health for the planet.

The promotion of these have also led to other nations copying the American model to allow for more protection for some of our most precious animals.

But, this past April has seen a massive shift in US Policy that could bring immense wealth, but also extreme repercussions.

Renewable Energy, Electric Cars, and Fishing

When hybrid cars became the rave, many jumped on the ecological bandwagon for their fuel efficiency and abilities to work electrically. And with the rise of Tesla and other electric car companies, now the world seems set on a post gasoline car world, or at least the State of California.

And, other “clean sources of energy” that utilize the relatively carbon-free electricity from solar panels to wind turbines have joined the rave and brought along many people.

But, sadly for clean energy enthusiasts, batteries are needed for these products and the materials used in making them are often obtained through polluted and labor-abusing practices that arguably cause worse problems for the Earth than the systems we are trying to move away from.

And, remember the concerns about overfishing?

Well, like the push to renewable energy has backfired at times, conservationists have noticed that created these effective “national park” like marine areas do not always benefit the world.

When President Biden announced a plan to convert the Pacific Remote Islands Area Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) to a National Marine Sanctuary that would expand the no take zone from 50 to 200 nautical miles, American Samoans were split on the matter.

A very intelligent Letter to the Editor on Talanei raised some amazing points.

Coming from the writings of “Concerned Resident Nate Ilaoa”, here were his most important points.

1. Reducing the abilities to fish would hurt not only American Samoans directly involved in fishing, but also would have deeper consequences for the whole territory that could lead to higher power, fuel, and shipping costs as a result of the subsidies lost that are currently provided by this industry.
2. The science is not settled on if marine protected areas help world fisheries: “Recent studies
   have shown that large-scale “no-take” zones in blue water offer limited benefits compared to other more flexible management tools. Furthermore, tuna are migratory, making marine protected areas (MPAs) less effective, especially in the face of climate change. Imagine drawing boxes in the sky and telling duck hunters not to shoot ducks when they are in those boxes and thinking it will have any positive conservation effect on the duck population. No, the answer is to address the hunters that are taking more than they should, or who do so in areas that hunting is not allowed, or doing so without permits.” He goes on to further state how creating MPAs can affect fisheries in other areas and have negative overall results: “Recent studies show that displacing fishing effort with MPAs can actually have negative impacts on stocks and fisheries as fishing effort is concentrated in remaining open areas, potentially leading to increased fishing pressure and negative consequences for tuna populations in those areas.”
3. He concluded with how the US should instead focus on the bad actors from other nations that illegally fish in the USA’s own EEZ and do not follow the proper rules in international waters, largely financed by and coming from another nation (People’s Republic of China he claims), and how the USA can do so by adding in a Coast Guard ship or other law enforcing ships. At the time of this writing in 2024, American Samoans relied on New Zealand for support in moments of distress, and were not able to enforce these laws on the territory.

President Trump’s April Executive Order

President Trump appears to have listened to concerned residents from American Samoa and issued an Executive Order to once again allow commercial fishing im PRINMN, done in a way that is ecologically responsible while keeping protections for protected species, land animals, and others.

Here were the important points President Trump made:

1. “As a result of the prohibitions on commercial fishing, American fishing fleets have lost access to nearly half of the United States’ Exclusive Economic Zone in the Pacific Islands.  This has driven American fishermen to fish further offshore in international waters to compete against poorly regulated and highly subsidized foreign fleets.  This disadvantages honest United States commercial fishermen and is detrimental for United States territories like American Samoa, whose private sector economy is over 80 percent dependent on the fishing industry.”
2. “I find that appropriately managed commercial fishing would not put the objects of scientific and historic interest that the PRIMNM protects at risk.”

Of course, not everyone is happy about this including another reader of Talanei who wrote a Letter to the Editor named Tara Sesepasara-Williams. Here were her points:

1. “Make no mistake, the impacts of unfettered commercial fishing are devastating and far-reaching. Driven by profit, these operations prioritize maximizing catch without regard for ecological stability.”
2. “Unsustainable fishing practices can decimate fish populations, pushing them towards collapse and disrupting the entire food web. The removal of keystone species can trigger cascading effects throughout the ecosystem.”
3. “Commercial fishing in the vast Pacific, while seemingly abundant, often casts a long shadow over local fishermen. The sheer scale and advanced technology employed by large commercial fleets can lead to overfishing, depleting fish stocks that smaller, local operations rely on for their livelihoods.”
4. “Indiscriminate fishing methods often result in the capture of non-target species like marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds, leading to their injury or death. Bottom trawling, a common commercial fishing technique, can also destroy critical seafloor habitats like coral reefs and seagrass beds, which provide essential nurseries and feeding grounds.”
5. “The removal of large quantities of fish can disrupt predator-prey relationships, impacting the populations of marine mammals, seabirds, and other fish species that rely on them for food. This imbalance can lead to further declines in biodiversity.”
6. “While short-term profits may be gained, the collapse of fish stocks due to overfishing ultimately harms local economies that depend on healthy ocean ecosystems for fishing, tourism, and other resources.”

But, perhaps most worrying is how these national monuments have protected these areas from deep sea mining and now may longer not.

Deep Sea Mining is the Solution to Land Based Problems

Remember how land based mining is a major issue due to how it is mined and who does the mining, plus its lasting effects.

Well, another major issue has been how the most important resources to mine are not found in most nations, meaning that certain nations that have them have a lot of control over the global economy, and thus more power affecting the national security of others.

Therefore, many have been looking to the ocean’s vast amount of resources to mine such as the polymetallic nodules, which possess the “building blocks for electric vehicles and electronics.”

According to California-based company, Impossible Metals, the waters of American Samoa possess a lot of these building blocks and thus they have asked the US to “launch a commercial auction for access to deposits of nickel, cobalt, and other critical minerals off the coast of American Samoa”.

Currently, many firms around the world are trying to get their hands on deep sea mining in the Pacific, but most nations do not allow it and international waters currently have heavy restrictions pending future rulings by the International Seabed Authority, which is the legal and neutral authority that governs the sea in international waters.

However, they do not control the rules in domestic waters such as a nations’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) where a country is allowed to alienate and make money from the resources found there.

Companies like Impossible Metals see the recent executive orders by President Trump as a trend to achieve their goals.

But, not all people are happy about this.

Many biologists and ecologists as well as worldwide citizens claim deep sea mining should be stopped until we know more about its effects as we are very much unaware as of now.

Tens of thousands of square miles are often used at once and this can cause irreparable damage to ecosystems that take millions of years to develop. Benthic creatures are often killed and filter feeders are often smothered. It destroys seabed habitat, of which we still know little about. It can cause chemical and temperature changes to the water, adding light and noise, plus plumes of debris, and is alleged to reduce oxygen levels.

For this reason, Palaun President Surangel Whipps, Jr., a very close American ally, has called for a moratorium on deep sea mining with his famous speech to the International Seaboard Authority in Jamaica titled, Upholding the Common Heritage of Humankind.

Worries have stemmed from many corporations wishing to corrupt the International Seabed Authority to gain concessions in various areas where polymetallic nodules and other important sources of energy rest.

The truth is, we do not know what will happen if we deep sea mine and ironically, many see that the only way to stop climate change is by using renewable energy to stop rising sea levels by destroying the sea these low lying islands are largely reliant on.

The American Samoa Test

Yet, perhaps those that are scared of deep sea mining should embrace Impossible Metals and these plans for American Samoa.

The reason why is because the push for these materials may be inevitable as more corruption reaches within the International Seabed Authority, leaving a certainty of deep sea mining for the future.

American laws and Impossible Metals both promise to follow the most ecologically friendly methods to accomplish these goals and if they are the first to do so, this could create the precedent and method all others follow.

This could make the industry relatively safe.

Furthermore, with Elon Musk being in the US Administration, this creates another positive because he has overseen some of the cleanest methods to obtain resources for batteries that go into Tesla vehicles and power sources.

Therefore, if deep sea mining is inevitable, having it done to uplift American Samoa and strengthen US national security, plus establishing worldwide standards that adhere to safe US rules would make this endeavor an overall positive.

Yet, detractors also have vital points.

For one, this could force other nations to deep sea mine now when they are not as ready to match the US operations, which could see a race to the bottom in ecology and destroy the Pacific forever.

Another contention is that this could reduce US credibility as President Trump’s decision could be seen as corruption to benefit Elon Musk and his busines interests while using the plight of American Samoan fishermen as cover.

Either way, these developments represent an exciting time for America’s southern hemisphere territory and could make American Samoa the wealthiest place on Earth.