1 00:00:02,100 --> 00:00:04,533 AMNA NAWAZ: In our globally connected lives, the companies that make the technology we rely 2 00:00:04,533 --> 00:00:09,200 on every day can run headlong into traditional cultures and the environment that sustains them. 3 00:00:11,233 --> 00:00:15,700 Last night we featured a new potentially lucrative industry, deep-sea mining. Tonight, 4 00:00:17,733 --> 00:00:20,900 videographer Edward Kiernan and special correspondent Willem Marx return to Papua 5 00:00:20,900 --> 00:00:25,900 New Guinea and the Bismarck Sea, where locals are fighting back to preserve a vanishing way of life. 6 00:00:28,533 --> 00:00:32,233 WILLEM MARX: Rodney Kadog has been prepping bait like this since he was a teenager, 7 00:00:32,233 --> 00:00:37,233 when he first ventured out alone in a canoe. Fishing far out at sea or on 8 00:00:39,533 --> 00:00:43,866 reefs closer to shore has sustained Papua New Guinea's coastal communities for centuries. 9 00:00:45,733 --> 00:00:50,366 Like many local kids, Rodney started catching fish around age 6. He later 10 00:00:50,366 --> 00:00:55,333 moved to this village called Kono to get married. Its shoreline on an island 11 00:00:57,333 --> 00:01:01,033 named New Ireland has been his home ever since and fishing remains his primary job. 12 00:01:02,266 --> 00:01:04,000 RODNEY KADOG, Fisherman (through translator): 13 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,666 It can help us with our families. It generates financial income, 14 00:01:06,666 --> 00:01:11,666 which supports us, as well as sustains our livelihood in our village. Fish is good. 15 00:01:13,666 --> 00:01:18,100 WILLEM MARX: Fishing helps feed his kids and if he ever trades or sells his catch, 16 00:01:18,100 --> 00:01:23,100 it helps fund their other needs too. But the bites don't come as often as they once did, 17 00:01:24,866 --> 00:01:28,833 perhaps due to a growing population or the changing climate. He's not sure. 18 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:32,566 RODNEY KADOG (through translator): When I was younger, it was a lot faster. As soon 19 00:01:32,566 --> 00:01:36,700 as we cast our lines, we would bring in a lot of fish, compared to now, 20 00:01:36,700 --> 00:01:41,700 when fish are scarce. Today, it takes a long time for us to catch one fish. 21 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,266 WILLEM MARX: Rodney often paddles out rapidly past the island's reef break, sometimes sitting 22 00:01:47,266 --> 00:01:52,233 for hours several miles offshore. But beyond the reach of a typical canoe ride farther out 23 00:01:54,300 --> 00:01:59,033 on this sea called the Bismarck sits a vast ship called MV Coco that villagers like Rodney 24 00:02:01,300 --> 00:02:05,466 worry could disturb the waters where local fish breed and damage their future fishing stocks. 25 00:02:07,633 --> 00:02:11,700 Floating in place a mile above the seafloor, this vast vessel is testing a new technique for 26 00:02:13,766 --> 00:02:17,200 an often controversial industry called deep-sea mining. A giant device called the grabber scoops 27 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:26,000 up several tons of rock from the seabed and sends it up to the ship's deck for analysis. 28 00:02:28,266 --> 00:02:32,833 Close to the mining site, the ship's crew show us these so-called chimneys of rock, crawling 29 00:02:35,166 --> 00:02:38,100 with mollusks and crabs with warmer water flowing from a vent that's visible on the ocean floor. 30 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:44,700 But as the grabber leaves the water one evening, there's a major hitch. It hasn't fully closed. 31 00:02:46,966 --> 00:02:50,566 That means a large amount of material from the ocean floor has leached into the water column on 32 00:02:50,566 --> 00:02:55,533 its way up to the ship. Marine experts around the world insist any form of deep-sea mining 33 00:02:57,633 --> 00:03:01,900 will damage ocean life. But environmental scientists have been hired and brought on 34 00:03:04,166 --> 00:03:07,066 board to better understand whether this sort of damage can be minimized or possibly mitigated. 35 00:03:08,966 --> 00:03:11,733 As part of their monitoring, they lower tubes into the ocean to capture samples 36 00:03:11,733 --> 00:03:15,933 at different depths, then collate the resulting data to examine the impact 37 00:03:15,933 --> 00:03:20,933 on the waters around the site. A geologist from Papua New Guinea, 38 00:03:22,866 --> 00:03:25,800 meanwhile, photographs this haul, then gets to work assessing the concentration 39 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:30,800 in these rocks of metals like copper, so crucial to the global energy transition. 40 00:03:32,866 --> 00:03:36,900 The team on board are trying to confirm whether these metals can be mined efficiently, profitably 41 00:03:39,366 --> 00:03:42,400 and safely under the supervision of James Holt, an offshore manager for one of the companies involved 42 00:03:44,533 --> 00:03:49,533 in this effort. He says deep-sea mining could cause less harm than its onshore equivalent. 43 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:53,566 JAMES HOLT, Offshore Manager, Magellan: I mean, I personally believe that, 44 00:03:53,566 --> 00:03:56,500 environmentally, this is a lot better. We're not relocating villages. We're not laying 45 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,833 waste to huge areas of land. Because of the quality of the material here, 46 00:04:04,266 --> 00:04:08,066 we have to mine 300 percent less ground to get the same amount of copper that you would get on land. 47 00:04:10,500 --> 00:04:14,233 WILLEM MARX: But given the uncertain consequences of this deep-sea extraction, 48 00:04:14,233 --> 00:04:18,500 it's an argument Jonathan Mesulam finds difficult to accept. 49 00:04:18,500 --> 00:04:23,500 JONATHAN MESULAM, Alliance of Solwara Warriors: Currently, there's no precedent case of sea mining 50 00:04:25,833 --> 00:04:29,033 around the world. Even scientists that I have talked to, the politicians, you and I, we don't 51 00:04:31,333 --> 00:04:36,266 really understand what is the likely impact is going to happen. So we don't want to take risks. 52 00:04:38,166 --> 00:04:40,500 WILLEM MARX: Mesulam left his job as a teacher to help set up a group focused 53 00:04:40,500 --> 00:04:45,400 on blocking seabed mining. He travels along the island's sometimes rugged 54 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:49,833 local roads to provide communities here with information he says they need to make 55 00:04:49,833 --> 00:04:54,833 decisions to weigh the possible benefits of a new project against its potential drawbacks. 56 00:04:57,066 --> 00:05:02,066 Most New Irelanders live in scattered coastal villages like Kono, around 700 57 00:05:04,300 --> 00:05:07,333 residents with homes hunched on the shoreline at the foot of huge mountains. Alongside fishing, 58 00:05:09,666 --> 00:05:14,466 pig and crop farming, as well as other traditional activities, dominate daily life in the village. 59 00:05:16,500 --> 00:05:20,333 For as long as the oldest residents can remember, they have gathered beneath these 60 00:05:20,333 --> 00:05:25,333 ancient trees to debate and discuss the community's challenges. On a recent visit, 61 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:32,600 63-year-old village chief Chris Malagan opened the meeting. 62 00:05:34,633 --> 00:05:38,000 He was appointed to this role decades ago and appears to relish the responsibility. 63 00:05:39,900 --> 00:05:44,333 He eventually invited Mesulam up to address the weekly council. Patently, 64 00:05:46,166 --> 00:05:48,633 painstakingly, the campaigner explained what little he knew about the presence 65 00:05:48,633 --> 00:05:53,066 of a deep-sea mining vessel just over the horizon. 66 00:05:53,066 --> 00:05:58,066 Then locals took their turn to speak on the subject, sometimes concerned, occasionally upset. 67 00:06:02,133 --> 00:06:07,133 For many residents, including Malagan, this poorly understood new industry seems to 68 00:06:09,066 --> 00:06:12,266 represent an existential threat at a time when fish stocks are already struggling. 69 00:06:12,266 --> 00:06:17,033 CHRIS MALAGAN, Chief, Kono Village (through translator): The ocean is our life. For us, 70 00:06:17,033 --> 00:06:21,333 the coastal people, it is our garden. We catch fish and share with others in 71 00:06:21,333 --> 00:06:25,133 the village without being paid. When we catch fish and sharks, 72 00:06:25,133 --> 00:06:29,633 we share with other families who need it to spread love and kindness. 73 00:06:29,633 --> 00:06:34,400 WILLEM MARX: Finding enough food can already be a challenge in communities like this, 74 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:39,266 and after years without any significant support from the state, Malagan fails 75 00:06:39,266 --> 00:06:44,200 to believe an offshore mining project involving foreign companies might help. 76 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,633 Do you think that the government of Papua New Guinea, the governor, 77 00:06:47,633 --> 00:06:50,400 the local representatives here on New Ireland, 78 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:55,400 do you think they are on your side or on the side of the companies doing the prospecting? 79 00:06:57,333 --> 00:06:59,700 CHRIS MALAGAN (through translator): Well, they are on the side of the company 80 00:06:59,700 --> 00:07:04,700 and not working in our favor. As a result, we the people are suffering. 81 00:07:05,933 --> 00:07:07,800 WILLEM MARX: How does that make you feel? 82 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,566 CHRIS MALAGAN (through translator): We are now faced with a huge problem. 83 00:07:11,566 --> 00:07:13,533 WILLEM MARX: Are you angry? 84 00:07:13,533 --> 00:07:15,600 CHRIS MALAGAN (through translator): Yes. We will miss out on the benefits. 85 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:19,800 The government and the national government will benefit from this. And we, the local, 86 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:24,500 people, will have nothing, except schools and health clinics. But as for the people 87 00:07:24,500 --> 00:07:29,500 within the villages, there won't be other services. This is a big problem. 88 00:07:29,500 --> 00:07:34,500 WILLEM MARX: Meetings like this mean a great deal to Jonathan Mesulam. Until recently, he thought 89 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:40,300 his decade of opposition had helped permanently stop seabed mining close to new Ireland. 90 00:07:40,300 --> 00:07:44,600 JONATHAN MESULAM: People are surprised, they're shocked after learning that the 91 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:49,600 new company is coming back. Because all our efforts on campaigning against seabed mining, 92 00:07:50,833 --> 00:07:54,200 we thought it was a dead issue now. But now we 93 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:59,200 are back. We are awakened. We are now campaigning against this new company. 94 00:08:02,700 --> 00:08:06,266 WILLEM MARX: And amid conversations with villagers like Rodney and Chris, 95 00:08:06,266 --> 00:08:11,266 Mesulam says he feels betrayed by his own government, and the personal costs have been high. 96 00:08:13,566 --> 00:08:17,333 JONATHAN MESULAM: It's really stressful. You have a family to feed. You are taking a risky path. 97 00:08:19,533 --> 00:08:24,200 It's really emotional, because you are trying to commit yourself to a good cause. And it's -- 98 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:39,000 to me, it's really emotional when discussing this issue. 99 00:08:46,466 --> 00:08:50,066 WILLEM MARX: He hopes to move forward on a legal case against the government to force 100 00:08:50,066 --> 00:08:53,933 more information about deep-sea mining into the public domain. 101 00:08:53,933 --> 00:08:57,933 JONATHAN MESULAM: We don't want to be used as guinea pigs for trial and error, 102 00:08:57,933 --> 00:09:01,833 because these metals that are going to be dug out of our ocean will not 103 00:09:01,833 --> 00:09:06,033 benefit anyone from here, because nobody here is using electric cars. So, you are 104 00:09:06,033 --> 00:09:11,033 taking minerals from the poor people, and you go and enjoy your luxury life. 105 00:09:13,066 --> 00:09:16,066 But these people are going to be affected in a long-term destruction to the marine 106 00:09:17,833 --> 00:09:21,633 ecosystem. And that is something that we are very concerned about. 107 00:09:23,966 --> 00:09:28,366 WILLEM MARX: For locals like Rodney, global copper markets may operate far from their fishing waters, 108 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,933 but community cohesion is something he wants to support. It could, he hopes, 109 00:09:35,333 --> 00:09:38,333 help combat this perceived threat to his livelihood. 110 00:09:38,333 --> 00:09:40,566 RODNEY KADOG (through translator): If we have a lot of conversations, 111 00:09:40,566 --> 00:09:45,266 raise a lot of awareness and have cooperation among our leaders in the communities to put up 112 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,166 a fight against this, then the seabed mining will not happen. 113 00:09:50,166 --> 00:09:55,066 WILLEM MARX: Not for the first time nor the last in our globalized world, a new industry 114 00:09:55,066 --> 00:10:00,066 with cutting-edge technology is colliding with traditional techniques and an ancient way of life. 115 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:07,200 For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Willem Marx in Kono, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. 116 00:10:09,033 --> 00:10:11,633 AMNA NAWAZ: Tomorrow, we will delve into the seeming lack of government 117 00:10:11,633 --> 00:10:16,633 oversight of deep-sea mining and the forces behind that avoidance.