Avarua, Rarotonga, Holding a banner reading "Don't Mine the Moana" Cook Islands activists confronted an exploration vessel as it returned to Rarotonga port today, peacefully protesting the emerging threat of deep sea mining.
Four activists in kayaks paddled alongside the Nautilus, which has spent the last three weeks on a US-funded research expedition visiting sites in the mineral exploration areas licensed by the Cook Islands authorities, who have consistently supported the development of deep sea mining.[1] Two of the three deep sea mining exploration licences in the Cook Islands' waters are held by US companies.[2]
This expedition comes just six months after President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order tasking the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to fast track the licensing process for deep sea mining.[3] The research being conducted on the Nautilus is funded by NOAA's Ocean Exploration Cooperation Institute.
In August, the US and Cook Islands governments announced their official partnership on developing seabed mineral resources. A senior official at the Cook Islands Seabed Minerals Authority described this research vessel expedition as "a first step in our collaboration".[4][5]
Campaigners against deep sea mining say this demonstrates that the political motive behind the Nautilus expedition is to advance seabed mining.
Holding a banner reading "Don't Mine the Moana", Louisa Castledine, Cook Island Activist and Spokesperson, Ocean Ancestors collective said "Right now, global superpowers like the US are vying for control of deep sea minerals throughout the Pacific. We need to open our eyes to the threats imposed on us by the seabed mining industry and stop the corporate takeover of our ocean. Seabed mining will lead to the destruction of our home environments and put our Indigenous rights, cultural ways of living, and wellbeing at risk. As Indigenous Peoples and custodians of the ocean we say NO to seabed mining."
Greenpeace Aotearoa is also campaigning to stop seabed mining before it starts.
Juressa Lee, Campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa said: "Greenpeace Aotearoa stands in solidarity with these Cook Islands activists, who peacefully protested today. Like many across the region, they want a Pacific blue line drawn against this destructive industry. Scientific discovery about the oceans must prioritise the wellbeing of all people, including future generations, not the interests of a few wannabe seabed miners. Pacific People will not be sidelined by corporations and powerful countries that try to impose this new form of extractive colonialism on the region."
More than 940 leading marine science and policy experts from over 70 countries have voiced their concerns about deep sea mining and are calling for a precautionary pause on the start of deep sea mining to allow time to gather more scientific information on deep sea biodiversity and ecosystems.[6]
Resistance to deep sea mining across the Pacific is strong and growing. 40 countries have now joined the call for a pause or moratorium on deep-sea mining, including Pacific states such as Palau, Samoa, Vanuatu and Tuvalu. Antigua and Barbuda and Romania added their support today.
Seabed mining is an emerging destructive industry that has not started anywhere at commercial scale. If it goes ahead, mining within Cook Island waters could pave the way for mining throughout the Pacific.
