There’s a fight for the future happening in the Pacific Ocean. It’s a critical battle over deep sea mining. The fate of my parents’ homeland, Samoa, and the broader Pacific Islands hinges on whether this industry is allowed to start.
This piece, the first in a series, reflects my perspective on the new threat of deep sea mining as a first-generation Samoan-New Zealander environmentalist. Though my upbringing away from the islands limits my understanding of lived consequences, it’s vital for the diaspora to engage with issues affecting our region as they will reshape our cultures.
We have a collective responsibility to safeguard the homes of our ancestors, no matter where we are. It is in everybody’s interests, whether Pacific Islander or not, to critically question the industries that’ll shape the environment our future generations inherit.
“We are the sea, we are the ocean, Oceania is us. We must wake up to this ancient truth and together use it to overturn all hegemonic views that aim ultimately to confine us again, physically and psychologically. It is time to create things for ourselves to create established standards of excellence that matches those of our ancestors.” – Epeli Hau’ofa (Hau’ofa, E. 1994. Our Sea of Islands. The Contemporary Pacific 6 (1): 148-61.)
As I reflect on this quote from Epeli Hau’ofa’s essay, “Our Sea of Islands,” I think about how the deep sea mining that now threatens those seas also threatens the excellence he envisioned.
The power to halt or initiate deep sea mining lies with the Pacific. While mining could occur within Pacific nations’ exclusive economic zones, the industry is controlled by companies from the global north which depend on Pacific governments for licences.
Promises of economic gain and climate change solutions are being peddled by these companies to convince islands that trusting the industry is in their best interest. At face value, it sounds like a perfectly packaged pathway to independence from foreign aid like Hau’ofa hoped for; a way to fight climate change and get rich doing it. But is it really, who actually benefits and at what cost?
The deep sea mining industry’s tempting promises of economic benefit for the Pacific region sound convincing until you scratch beneath the surface. There’s no insurance market for this industry, making it a high-risk venture for Pacific nations. Gambling the ocean’s health on uncertain returns would put the islands in an economically vulnerable position. A get-rich-quick scheme where the collateral damage is the largest ocean on earth is simply bad business practice. Additionally, concerns about declining tuna populations – vital for the economies of many islands – further challenge the narrative that deep sea mining is in the best interest of the Pacific. It can only make things worse.
The losses that will be suffered from deep sea mining would be greater than any money that could be made. Avoiding environmental harm must be prioritised, because as well as a cultural home and food basket, the Pacific Ocean serves as a crucial carbon sink. Deep sea mining would exacerbate ocean warming, acidification, and biodiversity loss, all of which threaten marine life and Pacific communities.
Recent discoveries about the deep ocean like the discovery of dark oxygen production, and that 90% of more than 5000 species in the Clarion-Clipperton zone are new to science, highlight our lack of understanding of these ecosystems. We cannot afford to jeopardise them, not when there isn’t enough research about the effects deep sea mining would have.
The mining industry tells us that their greed for the deep sea is needed to enable the renewable energy transition. We hear the same thing here from our Government and the Australian seabed miners Trans-Tasman Resources who want to mine the South Taranaki Bight, but it isn’t true.
Alternatives to deep sea mining for electric vehicle production exist, with evolving battery technologies that offer safer, more sustainable solutions, that don’t need to rely on minerals in the seabed.
The people with the most to gain and the least to lose in this industry are the western companies that can evade the repercussions of environmental damage – something the Pacific has seen before with the likes of nuclear testing, phosphate mining and endless industrial fishing fleets from around the world. The Pacific doesn’t deserve to see it again.
Pacific communities rely on marine life for sustenance and hold profound cultural ties to the ocean. It’s ironically cruel that a so-called “climate change solution” would threaten the same Pacific community that is on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Deep sea mining could be the next example of the global north exploiting the global south under the guise of support. Let’s call it what it is: environmental racism posing as a solution to climate change while preying on communities already grappling with climate impacts.
The path to Pacific excellence isn’t deep sea mining. Hau’ofa’s vision of Pacific excellence may have encouraged some who’ve misinterpreted the allure of deep sea mining as a way to attain the standards of excellence he spoke of, but they might need to reread what he wrote. Hau’ofas vision includes a duty of care towards our shared ocean, reflecting our ancestors’ values.
Deep sea mining is a trojan horse and the Pacific is Troy, arriving in the disguise of a gift but ultimately leading to our demise. Unlike other issues affecting ocean health, the power to prevent this industry lies with the Pacific. We can stop it before it starts – all we need to do is convince Pacific governments to say no. Like our Pacific ancestors masterfully navigated this ocean, we must navigate the challenges it faces with the same conviction. That starts with earnestly acknowledging what is at stake and recognising the power we have to protect it.

It’s time for New Zealand to take a stand. Join our call on the New Zealand government to back a global moratorium on seabed mining.
Take Action