Saving Seafood

Experts warn US, seabed mining sector’s defiance of International Seabed Authority could have wider consequences

August 1, 2025 — Experts returning from the annual meeting of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in Kingston, Jamaica, warn increased efforts by The Metals Company (TMC) and the U.S. government to start seabed mining – despite a lack of  authority approval – could have wider implications for the health of global fisheries and the rule of law at sea.

The push by TMC to start seabed minign comes as experts continue to assert the scientific knowledge needed to effectively and safely regulate mining of the deep seabed is still incomplete. Despite the continued pressure from regulatory bodies, TMC recently announced plans to commercialize its mining operation in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) – an environmental management area in the Pacific Ocean.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

NGOs, International Seabed Authority condemn plan to begin undersea mining in defiance of UN regulations

April 2, 2025 — Vancouver, Canada-based seabed mining company The Metals Company (TMC) has announced that it is collaborating with the Trump administration to obtain authorization to mine the deep sea bed in international waters, in defiance of the United Nations’ International Seabed Authority (ISA).

The ISA was given jurisdiction over seabed mining in international waters by a 1994 treaty, ratified by 169 U.N. members states, including all major coastal economies, except the U.S. 

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Environmental Investing Frenzy Stretches Meaning of ‘Green’

June 25, 2021 — The first time Gerard Barron tried to mine the sea floor, the company he backed lost a half-billion dollars of investor money, got crosswise with a South Pacific government, destroyed sensitive seabed habitat and ultimately went broke. Now he’s trying again, but with a twist: Mr. Barron is positioning his new seabed mining venture, The Metals Company, as green, to capitalize on a surge of environmentally minded investment.

TMC is set to receive nearly $600 million in investor cash in a deal slated to take the company public in July. If successful, that would value TMC at $2.9 billion—more than any mining company ever to go public in the U.S. with no revenue.

“We were positioning this incorrectly as a big mining, deep-sea mining project, which it was,” says Mr. Barron, who says the metallic nodules he hopes to bring up are crucial to building electric-vehicle batteries. “But it wasn’t the way that we were going to garner support from investors to make this industry a reality.”

Green investing has grown so fast that there is a flood of money chasing a limited number of viable companies that produce renewable energy, electric cars and the like.

Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal