NOAA advances seabed mapping near American Samoa

On January 22, 2026, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced it would survey more than 30,000 square nautical miles of federal waters off American Samoa to map and characterize critical mineral deposits. NOAA said the project was part of President Donald Trump’s (R) Executive Order 14285 on offshore critical minerals. This was the same order that caused the public review process, American Samoan leaders first raised concerns about last summer. 

In June 2025, when the Department of the Interior published its initial Request for Information, officials emphasized the process was preliminary, and no decisions had been made. Now, four months into active surveying, NOAA is spending $20 million to produce publicly accessible maps, images, and samples of the marine environment. These resources were explicitly designed to help federal agencies and interested parties understand the critical mineral deposits and relative prospectivity of the area. 

The mapping work is being conducted by contractor NV5, a Florida-based engineering and consulting firm, which began in February 2026. NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs said the project “highlights NOAA’s strong impact on economic resilience” and supports “sustainable deep sea mining practices.” 

NOAA also finalized new regulations that cut the permitting timeline for deep-seam mining roughly in half. This means that companies can now submit exploration and commercial recovery applications simultaneously rather than sequentially. 

Territorial concerns 

For American Samoa and other US Pacific territories, the pace of federal actions has been jarring. 

In June 2025, Governor Pulaali’i Nikola Pula (R) requested and received an extension to the public comment period, emphasizing the need for community consultation. In November, when the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed the Area Identification phase, approximately 33 million acres of seabed near American Samoa were officially designated for resource evaluation. 

His stance has been under scrutiny. In a May 2026 radio appearance, Governor Pula urged the public not to “jump to conclusions,” saying it was important for American Samoa to remain part of the federal process rather than oppose it and risk being excluded from decisions.

Now NOAA is actively surveying those waters. 

In April, the agency released the first images of geologic seafloor samples from the project. They included box core samples that allow further analysis of deep-sea resources. NOAA Ocean Exploration also announced plans to bring the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to American Samoa waters later in 2026 for deep-sea exploration and live-streamed dives.

Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero (D), whose territory’s waters connect with the Northern Mariana Islands, said that her government wasn’t consulted before BOEM issued its request for information about deep-sea mining leases. “We are not a sovereign nation, so we have no control,” she said. “They can just come in and do whatever they want… We’re at their mercy.” 

Representatives from the US Pacific territories at large have expressed unified opposition to the scope of federal seabed mineral initiatives. 

What mapping means

NOAA’s announcement doesn’t authorize mining. The agency emphasized that the data will be publicly accessible and will inform future research and management decisions. 

The proposed leasing area near American Samoa borders the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, which are areas designated for the protection of unique marine environments. If NOAA is mapping mineral deposits in that proximity, federal officials have already decided those waters are worth evaluating for commercial development. Last fall, territorial leaders were asking federal agencies to slow down and listen. This winter, those agencies have survey samples and a lease auction. According to the federal budget proposal, BOEM plans to hold the first seabed lease for American Samoa in August 2026, following with Northern Mariana Islands in November and Alaska in December. The funding for tribal and Pacific Islands outreach is scheduled to occur after those lease sales. At least nine companies are already talking with the government for access to seabed minerals.