Pacific islands have been called to draw a "Pacific Blue Line" to ban Deep Sea Mining (D.S.M.) in the Pacific.

The Pacific Blue Line was launched in March this year by collective partners, a coalition of civil societies churches and organisations such as the Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations and the Pacific Conference of Churches, to call for a ban on D.S.M within the Pacific waters and globally. 

The Pacific Blue Line aims to mobilise Pacific voices in support of the call for a global ban on D.S.M to protect the oceans, the planet and preserve a future.

The Campaigner for the Pacific Network on Globalisation, Joey Tau told the Samoa Observer in a telephone interview on Wednesday that the statement is a call to the Pacific leaders to take position and was a statement that also appeals to global leaders. 

Mr. Tau stated that when they say they are drawing the Pacific Blue Line, it is to draw a line in the ocean between those that seek to protect it and maintain its integrity for the common good of the planet and mankind, against those that seek to profit through its destruction.

According to the Pacific Blue Line Statement, for millennia, our ancestors have held this mantle of stewardship, embedding the wisdom of their resource management and conservation practices into their culture and traditions and that their vision was always beyond their temporal needs; the survival and wellbeing of future generations was central to their view of the world. 

Deep sea mining is already proving harmful to Pacific communities, their livelihoods, cultural practices, and their wellbeing, and call for a ban on D.S.M within the Pacific's territorial waters and areas beyond national jurisdiction, the statement reads.

"The coalition is calling for Pacific islanders to endorse the statement, to sign the petition but also our international partners, our international community to join the Pacific in and join this Blue Line in saying no to Deep Sea Mining," Mr. Tau said. 

Prior to the launch of the statement, there were nearly 390 organisations within the Pacific and internationally that endorse the statement including the petition. 

Since then they have had groups and individuals who are joining the call to draw the Blue Line. 

He emphasised that efforts are growing internationally among corporations and manufacturers, with some that will not be using any raw materials sourced from deep sea mining. 

He added that the Pacific must rise up and draw a Blue Line against this new form of exploitation.