Leaders of the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa welcomed President Trump's move to restore commercial fishing in federally protected Pacific waters, amid a threat of legal action from an environmental group.

Trump administration expands target areas for deep-sea mining in the Pacific By Mar-Vic Cagurangan The Ocean Exploration Trust today launches its two-week seabed-mapping expedition around the Mariana Islands, the first of five trips scheduled this year to survey the region's uncharted ocean floor, which the Trump administration seeks to lease for critical-mineral extraction. OET said the expeditions aim to "fill critical gaps in ocean knowledge" by charting the deep ocea