Stop Harmful Seabed Mining in U.S. and Global Waters
Surfrider is urging federal leaders to protect U.S. waters and to support a moratorium in international waters
The Trump administration has issued an executive order to fast-track approvals for deep-sea mining in both U.S. federal waters and international waters. The order directs relevant agencies to expedite permitting for seabed mineral exploration, mining, and monitoring. This action contradicts the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the International Seabed Authority, and poses serious geopolitical risk.
The Department of Interior is currently streamlining the project approval process for all U.S. waters. The agency has also targeted American Samoa
as its first region for seabed mining development despite unified opposition from the American Samoa Government. At the international level, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is proposing weaker regulations for U.S. companies to mine in global waters. Alarmingly, there’s still no regulatory framework for seabed mining in international waters, but the International Seabed Authority is currently developing regulations and a process for environmental review.
Take Action: Submit Comments to NOAA
The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is requesting public input until September 6, 2025 on its proposal to weaken regulations for U.S. companies to conduct deep-sea mining in international waters.
Surfrider urges members of the public to submit comments to NOAA in opposition to its proposed rule on seabed mining .
To submit your comments, please visit the Federal Comment Portal and follow the instructions provided!
Example issues to highlight in your comments:
- I am opposed to NOAA's proposed rule to weaken regulations for U.S. companies to conduct seabed mining in international waters.
- The world's ocean is home to diverse marine ecosystems and wildlife that provide enormous ecological value and support the economic and social well-being of billions of people.
- The ocean is also the largest and least explored habitat on Earth and plays a crucial role in supporting biological productivity, carbon sequestration, and nutrient cycling.
- Seabed mining involves industrial-scale prospecting along the ocean floor, and can severely damage marine habitats that nurture commercially and recreationally important fish, and numerous other species.
- Seabed mining can also create sediment clouds in the water column that disturb and harm sensitive marine life, including plankton, fish, whales, and dolphins.
- NOAA's proposed action conflicts with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the International Seabed Authority's current process to develop regulations for international waters.
- Ignoring international governance undermines the United State’s ability to demand compliance from other states on issues like illegal fishing and maritime navigation, and weakens our legitimacy on the international scale.
- We must protect the marine environment from the severe risks of seabed mining by establishing moratoria on mining until its consequences are understood and appropriate regulations are established.
- Due to these reasons, I am opposed to NOAA's proposed rule on seabed mining.
Seabed mineral extraction, or seabed mining as it's more commonly known, involves industrial-scale prospecting for metals and other minerals along the ocean floor. Such activity may damage habitats that nurture commercially and recreationally important fish. Seabed mining also creates sediment clouds that can smother or negatively impact the feeding and reproduction of other marine life, including plankton, groundfish, salmon, and forage fish. These sediment clouds, and associated noise, may also negatively impact whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals.
Take Action: Contact Your Congressional Representatives
Surfrider Foundation is urging Congress and the Trump administration to oppose harmful seabed mining. We call on federal leaders to stop proposed seabed mining off American Samoa and other U.S. waters, and to support a moratorium on deep-sea mining in International waters until the International Seabed Authority (ISA) develops a suitable regulatory framework.
We also call on Congress to pass legislation to prevent harmful seabed mining. Surfrider has endorsed the American Seabed Protection Act (H.R. 664) to place a moratorium on mineral extraction in U.S. waters and to direct federal agencies to assess how mining activities could affect ocean species, carbon sequestration , and communities who depend on the ocean; and the International Seabed Protection Act (H.R. 663) to require the U.S to oppose international seabed mining efforts until the ISA has adopted a suitable regulatory framework.
Our deep ocean and seabed are the last unexplored regions of our world, yet what we do know of them is that they are among our most intricate and fragile. Some of the oldest living coral species are found in the deep sea, and around one million marine species may inhabit the deep sea, a massive and interrelated complex of biodiversity seen nowhere else on the planet. In addition, the deep ocean is one of our planet’s largest and most important stores of carbon and likely plays a critical role in the fight against climate change.
It is imperative we protect our fragile, economically important, and culturally valuable oceans from the severe risks of seabed mining by imposing moratoria on mining unless and until its consequences are understood and an appropriate protective regulatory regime is established both within and beyond US national waters.
Please contact your federal representatives to stop harmful seabed mining!