Pacific News Briefs

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — As the Cook Islands approaches the end of its five-year seabed minerals exploration phase and the latest partnership with the superpowers United States and China, the question facing its people is no longer just about mining — but about identity, sovereignty, stewardship, and the ocean that binds them all.

Cook Islands holds one of the largest Exclusive Economic Zone, with an estimated 6.7 billion tons of polymetallic nodules rich in cobalt, manganese, and other rare earth minerals.

However, while no mining is yet underway, the debate around what should come next is gaining urgency, especially as calls for a global moratorium on deep sea mining continues to grow.

For Cook Islanders it is not a priority.

Mike Tavioni, a master carver and a well-respected elder in the Cook Islands thinks that the conversation around the topic has become unbalanced and dismisses it stating, "People are worried over nothing".

Tavioni said, "Everybody is afraid of something that is not happening, it will not happen in the next 10 years.

According to the master carver, the word 'mining' is emotionally charged, "it is a scare tactic, its extraction, and if research is not done now, in ten years' time it will be better."

According to Tavioni the nodules are mostly located in the North of Aitutaki, closer to Penhryn and is divided into three exploration sites for the three exploration companies that have been given the green light to explore Cook Islands waters.

Tavioni is under the impression that extraction from these companies will take up to 50 years, a claim that is yet to be proven. For the most part, these explorations are new to Pacific Islanders, and would require more awareness of its impacts.

There are 30 current exploration contracts awaiting permitting exploration in western Pacific, Indian Ocean and The Mid-Atlantic and it continues to be a constant geopolitical debate.

LEGAL BATTLE TO PROTECT MARINE SANCTUARY

A court in Hawai'i has tossed a federal directive allowing commercial fishing in protected Pacific waters, in defiance of orders from the White House.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued a notice on April 2025 authorizing commercial fishing within the , an area spanning more than 1.2 million square kilometers of ocean.

This notice was pursuant to an executive order from US President Donald Trump, titled "Unleashing American Commercial Fishing in the Pacific", that dismantled fishing protections in certain parts of the monument.

Since the NMFS letter was issued, commercial fishing operations quickly began in waters between 50 and 200 nautical miles around Johnston Atoll, Jarvis Island, and Wake Island.

The action was met with a lawsuit backed by campaign group Earthjustice, on behalf of a group of Hawaiian conservation groups.

More than four months later, the US District Court in Hawai'i gave them their first victory, voiding the letter and thus the legal right for commercial fishers.

The court asserted that the government had not gone through the correct legal processes, and that the public had not been consulted.

PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM FISHERIES

The Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) has received a payment of US$60 million for 2024, under its Economic Assistance Agreement with the US government.

It is a part of a commitment made in a treaty signed by the Pacific nations and the US in 1988, to govern fishing in exclusive economic zones.

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau met with Pacific Islands Ambassadors and Representatives based in Washington to confirm the payment and reaffirm the US Government's ongoing support for the economic deal.

COP30 SUMMIT

Organizers say November's United Nations climate summit, COP30, will take place in the Amazon city of Belém as planned, despite concerns about affordable accommodation.

Climate News reported the 11-member COP bureau, which advises the COP presidency, asked in late July whether steps had been taken to identify an alternative location for COP30 if the accommodation crunch does not improve.

The presidency said there will be no alternate location.

Seventy-two governments classified as 'least developed countries' and 'small island developing states' have been offered 15 individual rooms each priced at US$100-200 a night.

All other governments will be offered ten rooms each for prices ranging from US$200 to $600 a night.

These rooms "are not intended to accommodate" countries' leaders with other arrangements to be made for them and their entourages.

The leaders' summit will be held before the main COP negotiations and accompanying side events start.

FIJI HIV CASES

Fiji's acting medical superintendent Dr Kiran Gaikwad says there is a need for a dedicated drug rehabilitation center, to stem the spread of infections and provide appropriate long-term care.

He was speaking after a teenager was admitted to St Giles Psychiatric Hospital with HIV linked to drug use.

Labasa Hospital acting medical superintendent, Dr Mikaele Mua said they are seeing a lot of HIV cases but there are likely more without symptoms.

The government said it has committed funding for the construction and operation of a Child Wellbeing Centre, providing a safe space and support for vulnerable children.

GUAM DEPORTATIONS

Guam's attorney general is seeking to ramp up his deportation plan.

The Pacific Island Times reported Douglas Moylan saying 101 convicted aliens have been deported from Guam since 2023, with a dozen more in the system under pending process.

In a letter to the assistant special agent in charge, Moylan proposed to have investigators at the Office of the Attorney General "sworn in as ICE agents", authorizing them to arrest those set for deportation.

Moylan said he is seeking to collaborate with the federal agency "to effectively and efficiently deport as many criminal aliens as possible," saying repeat offenders often get released "only to reoffend and create more victims".

CEPAC GATHERING

Catholic bishops gathered in Pago Pago earlier this month for a week of prayer and reflection.

Archbishop Gábor Pintér, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC) gave a speech at the gathering.

He said the "very core" of CEPAC's vision is a "deep desire to be a Church that is authentically 'of the Pacific'".

Vatican News reported the archbishop suggested a number of areas for the church in the region to focus on, including care for the oceans, synodality, formation for mission, social activism, and empowerment of women and young people.

LIVE FIRE TRAINING

A New Zealand Defense Force has finished the a high explosive live fire training activity with the Papua New Guinea Defense Force.

Gunners from the New Zealand Army's 16th Field Regiment led a mortar training course.

Colonel Mike van Welie said the exercise included 110 personnel from both countries.

The NZDF said NZ Army soldiers also gained valuable training, with the PNG Defence Force sharing their expertise in challenging close-combat jungle conditions.