CNMI leader urges caution as US advances Pacific seabed mining plan

By Mark Rabat, RNZ Pacific Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Governor David Apatang says protecting Pacific waters and island communities must come first as the United States moves ahead with plans that could eventually open a vast area of seabed around the Mariana Trench to mineral development. The US Marine Minerals Administration, formerly the…