Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Deep sea mining in the Gulf of Alaska

August 13, 2026 — With China reportedly producing around 90 percent of the world’s supply of rare earth elements, and far ahead in processing technology, the U.S. and other countries are searching for new ways to meet demand, and deep sea mining on seamounts in the Gulf of Alaska is on the list of proposals. The Japanese press reported in July that experimental deep sea mining had successfully extracted rare earth elements such as neodymium, dysprosium, and terbium—all vital for fighter jet and missile guidance systems—from 6,000 feet below the surface.

In April of 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14285 “Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources,” and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is evaluating whether to advance a competitive lease sale for minerals on the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf. “We don’t know what impact deep sea mining could have on fisheries, but there is cause for concern,” says retired University of Alaska marine professor Rick Steiner, who now runs a consulting company called Oasis Earth.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

VIRGINIA: Coastal Virginia communities push back against proposed offshore seabed mining

August 12, 2026 — Chincoteague resident Jim Dawson has been fishing the waters off the Eastern Shore for more than four decades, catching species including black sea bass and Atlantic lobster.

During his many hours out at sea, Dawson said he’s come to appreciate the tiniest creatures that dwell on and around the seafloor.

“The microscopic world is just phenomenal, that you would never know is there,” he said. “What lives in that water, we don’t know anything about. And everything is vital.”

Dawson worries a new federal proposal to dig up huge portions of the seabed could threaten the ecosystem that supports his livelihood.

“Once you knock one thing off balance, it really impacts all of it,” he said.

The Trump administration announced in June that it is considering issuing an ocean lease to allow mineral mining within a 2,700-square-mile area flanking the Eastern Shore, stretching from 3 to 63 miles off the coast.

The move was prompted by an unsolicited request from a Florida company late last year.

Administration officials say the industry, which mines the seabed to extract valuable minerals, could reduce U.S. reliance on foreign suppliers.

But many community leaders and residents along the Virginia coast are strongly opposing the proposal, particularly on the Shore.

The counties of Accomack and Northampton sent the government formal notices against it.

Read the full article at WHRO

Trump Administration Advances First Offshore Critical Minerals Lease Sale Under New Marine Minerals Agency

July 17, 2026 — The Trump administration has taken another step toward launching a U.S. offshore critical minerals industry, with the newly created Marine Minerals Administration (MMA) releasing a proposed leasing notice that could lead to the first federal deep-sea mineral lease sale in U.S. waters.

The proposal covers federal waters off American Samoa and marks one of the first major regulatory actions by the MMA since the Trump administration announced plans in April to merge the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) into a single offshore regulator.

The proposed lease sale is part of the administration’s broader effort to secure domestic supplies of critical minerals—including nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese—that are widely used in batteries, defense systems and advanced manufacturing while reducing dependence on Chinese-controlled supply chains.

“Critical minerals have become a strategic asset in global competition, and China’s dominance in the supply of many of these materials creates unacceptable risks for America’s energy, defense and manufacturing sectors,” Acting MMA Director Matt Giacona said.

Read the full article at gCaptain

Experts say ‘bare bones’ US laws are unfit to regulate nascent deep-sea mining industry

June 10, 2026 — The deep-sea mining industry could launch in the near future in U.S. federal waters. Yet legal experts and former government officials warn that the regulations that would govern this industry are outdated and lack important oversight provisions.

In April 2025, the Trump administration signaled its intention to enter the global race to mine the deep sea when it released an executive order calling for the development of the industry. Following the administration’s direction, in April 2026 the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced its plans to hold a series of seabed lease sales over the course of this year and into early next. The first one is slated for August in American Samoa, with subsequent lease sales planned for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Alaska. If these go forward, they could mark the first commercial lease processes for deep-sea mining anywhere in the world.

Critics say deep-sea mining could cause large-scale and irreversible damage to the marine environment, and some governments in areas slated for leasing have even taken steps to ban deep-sea mining. In 2024, the governor of American Samoa enacted a moratorium on seabed mining from its territorial waters, which extend 3 nautical miles (5.6 kilometers) from its shorelines. And this month, the governor of Guam, a self-governing territory that shares its exclusive economic zone with the CNMI, signed a bill into law that banned deep-sea mining in its nearshore waters and prohibited the use of its port, a vital hub for the Western Pacific region, for seabed mining activities. Opponents also argue that the U.S. government is rushing the process to initiate these lease sales.

Supporters of the industry, including representatives from deep-sea mining companies, say it would be minimally invasive and procure critical minerals, and that development is proceeding at an appropriate pace.

Tony Romeo, the CEO of a newly formed deep-sea mining company based in South Carolina called Eco Minerals, pointed out that the U.S. has been developing its interest in the deep-sea mining industry since the 1980s. “From an industry perspective, this has been such a slow process,” he told Mongabay.

Read the full article at Mongabay

US prepares to auction leases for seabed mining blocks in federal waters

May 28, 2026 — The U.S. agency responsible for overseeing deep-sea mining in federal waters is preparing to auction off seabed blocks within months — a step that could kick-start commercial-scale deep-sea mining and make the U.S. one of the first countries to allow it.

Deep-sea mining has not yet begun anywhere in the world. Opponents say it could cause widespread and irreversible damage to the marine environment if it begins, while supporters say it could provide an important source of critical minerals.

In a budgetary document released in April 2026, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) indicated it intends to hold at least three offshore lease sales during the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years. The lease sales will take place through competitive auctions, providing a pathway for winning companies to gain exclusive rights to explore and exploit minerals in designated tracts of seabed.

The first sale is slated for the federal waters of American Samoa in August 2026; a second in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in November 2026; and a third in Alaska in 2027. A spokesperson for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the U.S. agency currently responsible for the development of offshore energy and mineral resources on the U.S. outer continental shelf (OCS), confirmed this timeline.

Read the full article at Mongabay

Companies join a deep-sea mining rush after Trump executive order, as regulators fast-track permits

May 21, 2026 — In the year since President Donald Trump signed an executive order promising to create a deep-sea mining industry from scratch, businesses have raised millions of dollars from investors, stock prices have soared and federal regulators have raced to fast-track a permitting process.

At least nine companies are in talks with the government for access to seabed minerals, according to an Associated Press review. Sections of the seafloor from American Samoa to Alaska could be auctioned for offshore mining this summer and through the fall.

All the action suggests the U.S. may soon give the green light for companies to commercially mine the seabed — something that’s never been done in international waters.

But a close look at some of the companies involved reveals uncertain track records and histories spattered with legal disputes, while major questions about how the minerals would be processed and refined remain unanswered. Watchers of the nascent industry are skeptical the promised riches will ever materialize.

Read the full article at The Associated Press

Desire for these small rocks on the ocean floor is triggering a ‘deep sea gold rush’

February 23, 2026 — Negative consequences of deep ocean mining activity are no longer found only on the seafloor. This controversial practice has now become a midwater problem as well, with potential impacts reaching hundreds of feet above the ocean floor in every part of the world.

A new study is the first to show that waste discharged from mining ships into the midwater “twilight zone” of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) could disrupt food webs hundreds of feet above the seabed.

Researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa found that more than half of the zooplankton and roughly 60 percent of the micronekton living between about 650 to 4,900 feet (200 to 1,500 meters) would be exposed to mining plumes.

Because these animals feed larger predators, the effects would ripple upward to fish, seabirds, and marine mammals.

Read the full article at Earth.com

Deep sea mining is the next geopolitical frontline — and the Pacific is in the crosshairs

January 23, 2026 — When the United States recently escalated its confrontation with Venezuela – carrying out strikes in Caracas and capturing President Nicolás Maduro — the moves were framed as political intervention.

But the raid also reflected a deeper contest over oil and critical mineral supply chains.

For Washington, controlling energy and strategic materials is now inseparable from power projection. That same logic is increasingly being applied in our own backyard — the Pacific seabed — where new mining could target minerals vital for batteries, electronics, clean energy and the military industrial complex.

WHAT IS DEEP‑SEA MINING?

In the Pacific, most attention today is on nodules in the Clarion‑Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a vast area between Hawaii and Mexico. This zone is administered by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), an intergovernmental body responsible for safeguarding the deep sea.

Nodules, which appear like potato-sized rocks, are found scattered across seabed plains four to six kilometres beneath the surface. These nodules are rich in nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese – metals used in electric vehicle batteries, smart phones and wind turbines.

Mining them involves driving a robotic “vacuum” over the seabed, pumping nodules up a riser pipe to a ship, and shipping concentrates ashore for processing.

Nodules aren’t the only target. Companies also eye sulphide deposits at hydrothermal vents and cobalt‑rich crusts on underwater mountains.

Increasingly, seabed minerals have become geopolitically important – and for two key reasons.

First, the energy transition is driving up demand for nickel, cobalt and manganese, with agencies projecting at least a doubling over the next two decades. Second, supply chains are concentrated in a handful of countries, making democracies nervous about choke points.

Policy makers and firms therefore see seabed minerals as a hedge: a way to diversify sources of “critical minerals” for clean energy and military defence.

Read the full article at Samoa News

Feds plan to meet face-to-face on mining

January 12, 2026 — Federal officials from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Department of the Interior, are planning to visit Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in February to meet face-to-face with island residents and take public comments on deep-sea mining near the Mariana Trench.

Lester Carlson, director of the Bureau of Budget and Management Research, confirmed Monday that BOEM has requested meetings on Feb. 25 for Guam and Feb. 26-27 in the CNMI, though neither governor has finalized those dates.

“I think BOEM is set to visit,” Carlson told The Guam Daily Post. “It all depends on Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero’s and Gov. David Apatang’s availability.”

Both governors are scheduled to attend National Governors Association meetings in Washington, D.C., from Feb. 19-21, the week before the proposed visit.

“BOEM is a division of the Department of the Interior, so they’re well aware of the scheduling,” Carlson said. “All things being equal, both governors, if they return relatively quick from D.C., could be available for meetings that are requested the following week, but they have not confirmed yet.”

Read the full article at the Guam Daily Post

Legislature to hold hearing on opposition to deep-sea mining

December 30, 2025 — The Guam Legislature will hold a public hearing next week on a resolution that reaffirms the island’s call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining and objects to federal plans to lease waters near the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for mineral extraction.

Sen. Therese Terlaje announced the hearing will take place Jan. 7 at 8:30 a.m. in the Guam Congress Building. The hearing will address Resolution 132-38, which has drawn support from 10 senators, including Sabina Flores Perez, Telo Taitague, Chris Barnett, Vice Speaker Tony Ada, William Parkinson, Vincent Borja, Joe San Agustin, Shelly Calvo, and Tina Muña Barnes.

The resolution targets a proposal from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that seeks commercial leasing of roughly 35 million acres along the Mariana Islands chain for offshore deep-sea mining. Guam sits about 128 nautical miles from the proposed mining area.

According to the resolution, legislators find BOEM’s 60-day comment period insufficient for meaningful consideration from Guam residents who would bear environmental, cultural, and social consequences of the proposed mining. BOEM initially set a Dec. 12 deadline for public comments but granted a 30-day extension to Jan. 12 after Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and CNMI Gov. David Apatang requested 120 days.

Read the full article at The Guam Daily Post