The U.S. territory, marooned in the heart of the Pacific, faces a triple threat of climate change, industrial fishing and the rising push for deep-sea mining -- forces that threaten to reshape its future.
For many fishermen, whose faith and families are tied to the sea, these waters no longer feel endless or secure. Decisions about their future -- and the ocean itself -- are now being made far beyond their shores. From Washington boardrooms to global summits, the people most bound to these waters barely register.
As U.S. officials weigh reopening parts of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to commercial fishing fleets -- and consider seabed mining -- the voices of local fishermen and StarKist cannery workers are reduced to background noise in decisions that will define their survival.
