Save Our Oceans From Deep-Sea Mining

We need your help stopping the Trump administration from destroying our oceans. 

President Trump issued a new executive order earlier this year fast-tracking approvals for deep-sea mining. The U.S. government has now begun the process to consider the first ever mining lease sale in U.S. federal waters off American Samoa, a U.S. territory, close to the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument.

Mining the ocean floor can cause irreparable damage to delicate and important ecosystems that are vital to fisheries, economies, and communities around the world. The deep sea is our most fragile and least understood ecosystem, with thousands of new species discovered every year. We cannot put our oceans at risk for this dangerous practice that has no safeguards in place.

We need your voice urgently to tell the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to reject this lease sale that could cause reckless and unnecessary harm to our beautiful oceans.

Join Oceana and stand up to protect our oceans from deep-sea mining!

petition text

Dear Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,

Please accept this letter as a statement of my firm opposition to the proposed deep-sea mining initiative off American Samoa. Launching this form of resource extraction poses a significant threat to our shared marine environment and undermines the ocean’s vital role in sustaining planetary health.

For the life that grows on and around areas targeted for deep-sea mining, the resulting destruction will be comprehensive and irreversible. The deep sea is Earth's least understood ecosystem—with new species discovered every year—and it is also among its most fragile. For example, a deep-sea mining test site on the Blake Plateau off the coast of North Carolina shows no recovery, more than 50 years later. NOAA scientists found mining changes the structure and topography of these ecosystems from seafloor to surface, which means that coastal industries like fisheries and tourism could also suffer.

These deep-sea ecosystems support an abundant food web, providing critical habitat for marine mammals and nursery grounds for commercially important fish species. The Global Tuna Alliance and Sustainable Seafood Coalition are already expressing their concerns about impacts on the $5.5 billion Pacific tuna industry. In addition to the irreparable harms to the ocean environment, deep-sea mining requires processing that occurs on land, with all the environmental impacts associated with industrial metal refining.

Leaders around the world urge caution: 37 countries, more than 65 major corporations, 37 financial institutions, and more than 940 marine experts call for a moratorium on seabed mining, citing its environmental dangers and shaky economics. Critically, those most affected by seabed mining oppose it. Nearly all U.S. Pacific states and territories—including California, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, American Samoa, and Guam—have restricted or banned deep-sea mining. The American Samoa government is unified in its opposition.

The U.S. must not lead a "race to the bottom." Governments and companies using such metals should prioritize reducing demand for virgin supply—with enhanced recycling, for example— rather than expanding supply via deep-sea mining.

For these reasons, I urge BOEM to abandon any deep-sea mineral leasing plans in the ocean off American Samoa.

Sincerely,
{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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