Broad Coalition Urges NOAA to Reject First-Ever Commercial Deep-Sea Mining Application as Public Comment Period Closes

Thousands of comments submitted in opposition to deep-sea mining proposal as scientists, lawmakers, Pacific communities and conservation groups warn of irreversible environmental damage and threat to international ocean governance

Washington, D.C. (October 19, 2026) — The comment period closed today on the first-ever application for the commercial-scale seabed mining in international waters, submitted by The Metals Company (TMC) to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The National Ocean Protection Coalition (NOPC), alongside scientists, lawmakers, Indigenous leaders and conservation organizations, is calling on NOAA to reject the application as inadequate, premature and dangerous.

On August 19, NOAA announced that it would formally consider TMC’s joint exploration and commercial recovery application targeting the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the international waters of the Pacific. If approved, it would mark the first commercial-scale mining permit ever granted in international waters — setting a precedent with consequences far beyond U.S. borders.

TMC’s application lacks the scientific foundation that federal law requires. The company acknowledges that only approximately 30% of the species expected to inhabit the proposed mining area are known to science, leaving thousands of organisms undiscovered and their ecological roles unknown. Approving this permit would leave federal regulators without the information needed to evaluate two decades of cumulative damage to one of the least-explored ecosystems on Earth. And even if TMC could extract nodules at scale, there is currently no domestic facility capable of processing them.

Opposition to seabed mining is wide and growing. More than 46 countries and global stakeholders — including businesses, financial institutions, fisheries associations, UN human rights leaders, Indigenous Peoples and scientists — support a moratorium or precautionary pause on seabed mining. Nearly all U.S. Pacific states and territories have restricted or banned deep-sea mining within their waters.

Greenpeace International released a petition in opposition, calling the deep ocean “not for sale.” Surfrider, Oceana and Environment America also released action alerts.

"Our deep ocean remains one of the least explored frontiers on Earth, sustaining extraordinary marine biodiversity and ecological processes that we are only beginning to understand,” said U.S. Congressman Ed Case (D-HI-01). “The premature authorization of industrial-scale deep-seabed mining in international waters could well destroy critical species and whole ecosystems and severely disrupt our marine environment with profound short and long-term consequences. We should not take this ecologically reckless action, especially in derogation of the international community, and should instead recommit to rigorous advance scientific review and to the reasonable and cooperative international process already underway.”

The following stakeholders also joined in opposition, releasing the below statements.

Miriam Goldstein, Executive Director, National Ocean Protection Coalition

”Based on meager sampling, TMC is asking NOAA to greenlight commercial exploitation across an area larger than West Virginia, even while admitting that roughly 70% of the species living there remain undiscovered. TMC’s own funded research warns that waste discharge plumes could starve marine food webs, corroborating broader scientific consensus that mining will cause lasting harm from the seafloor to the surface, while independent evaluations highlight severe operational and financial hurdles. NOAA must stand by rigorous science and reject this premature, inadequate proposal.”

Sierra M. Fata, Communications Officer, Finafinau, American Samoa
As a young Indigenous woman from American Samoa, I oppose deep-sea mining because our Moana is not an empty space for exploitation. It is our inheritance, our identity and the foundation of our people's way of life. Decisions that threaten our ocean must not be made at the expense of Indigenous communities whose voices, rights and futures are at stake. My generation should not have to fight to protect what has sustained our ancestors for generations, and future generations should not have to bear the consequences of decisions they never had a voice in.

Arlo Hemphill, U.S. Project Lead on Greenpeace’s Oceans are Life Campaign, Greenpeace USA

“The geopolitical risk to the United States were it to issue this license is unprecedented. It’s a blatant breach of what 171 countries plus the European Union unanimously accept as established international law. Putting aside all that has been said on the environmental, cultural and financial risks of deep sea mining — which is substantial — this move alone threatens the very foundations of global ocean governance, something the U.S. depends deeply on for safe passage of its military and commercial fleets, its massive Exclusive Economic Zone and global peace. This is nothing short of self-sabotage.”

Chela Garcia Irlando, Executive Director, Next 100 Coalition

“It is virtually impossible to maintain rigorous environmental and technical standards when NOAA is reviewing The Metals Company’s application through a streamlined process that overlooks the significant impacts deep-sea mining will have on species recovery, biodiversity and seabed integrity. Waiting until the application is certified to consider the environmental impacts would be far too late. NOAA cannot rely on the possibility that environmental risks will be adequately managed after commercial operations begin and must ensure that these impacts are prevented. Along with these risks, historically excluded yet affected communities are stripped of meaningful engagement that provides the opportunity to weigh in on a decision that will leave irreparable impacts on the seabed. We strongly recommend that the agency reject this application and prioritize the health and integrity of our oceans and public input.”

Avery Davis Lamb, Executive Director, Creation Justice Ministries

“The earth is the Lord’s, from the mountaintops to the depths of the sea. Deep-sea mining threatens the integrity of God’s creation, putting marine ecosystems and the creatures who call them home at risk of severe and irreversible harm. These proposed lease sales place human greed and short-sighted exploitation above the flourishing of life in our sacred waters. Those entrusted with decisions about deep-sea mining must reject these lease sales and instead act with wisdom, humility, transparency and commitment to the common good of all God’s children and creatures.”

J. Hauʻoli Lorenzo-Elarco, Coordinator, Papahānaumokuākea Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group

“As children of the deep seas whose ancestors traversed these vast ocean pathways, we firmly stand in opposition to deep-sea mining. Our ocean is not simply a resource to be extracted but a sacred and ancestral realm that sustains life, connects our islands and carries our responsibilities across generations. The waters of Moananuiākea (the Pacific Ocean) do not recognize the boundaries drawn on maps, and the impacts of industrial extraction will not remain confined to the places where it occurs. We have a kuleana (responsibility and privilege) to protect the integrity of our ocean and the life it sustains, including its cultural and natural heritage. We cannot risk the irreversible destruction of ecosystems for short-term gain. Let us not be remembered as the generation that destroyed it but as the generation that stood alongside our ancestors to fiercely protect and love it.”

Sheila Sarhangi, Executive Director, Papahānaumokuākea Coalition

“For the people of the Pacific, the ocean is not an empty space on a map, nor is it a place where industrial extraction is open to the highest bidder. The ocean is a living, breathing ancestor. It holds stories, feeds families and connects generations of people who are alive today and who will come after us. The waters of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone are not separate from the Hawaiian archipelago or the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary (or the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands) — they are connected through currents, through migrating whales, through the same living ocean. What happens there also happens to these precious places and the people who are connected to them.”

Julia Singer, Defense Campaign Manager, Oceana

“Our oceans are one step closer to catastrophe from this first-of-its kind application to extract minerals from the floor of the deep sea. Consolidating exploration and mining into one process betrays the public’s trust and provides nothing but a rubber stamp for the destruction of the world’s waters. Deep-sea mining risks destroying an environment we are only now just beginning to understand. The U.S. government must reject this application — and any others like it — before major irreparable damage is done to the world’s oceans.”

Pete Stauffer, Sr. Ocean Protection Manager, Surfrider Foundation

"Surfrider Foundation urges the Trump administration to reject The Metals Company USA's application to conduct deep-sea mining across the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean. This sensitive marine ecosystem is a biodiversity hotspot that could be irreparably harmed by the industrial-scale mining of minerals from the ocean floor. The proposal also conflicts with international law and would set a dangerous precedent for other countries to conduct illegal activities on the High Seas."

Dr. Sabrina Suluai-Mahuka, Founder and Executive Director, Finafinau, American Samoa

“I am a daughter of the Pacific and now a mother raising another daughter of the Pacific. I was taught that the ocean is not something we simply inherit and consume. It is something we have a responsibility to protect and pass on. And yet, here we are, watching decisions about the future of our ocean move forward while so many Pacific communities remain far removed from the rooms where those decisions are made. Our children will live with the consequences long after these companies have made their profits and moved on. They deserve more than promises that the damage will be manageable. They deserve an ocean that is alive, healthy and capable of sustaining the generations that follow us. The burden should not be on Pacific and coastal communities to prove that our ocean is worth protecting. It should be on those seeking to exploit it to demonstrate that they can do so without sacrificing what belongs to future generations. Until then, NOAA should reject this application.”

Angelo Villagomez, Center for American Progress

“Trump’s poorly thought-out actions are about shattering international conventions on the high seas and rewriting the rules of global governance for corporate extraction. The United States is creating yet another crisis where none needs to exist for a resource we don’t even have the capacity to process.”

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About NOPC

The National Ocean Protection Coalition (NOPC) works to create and support marine protected areas and place-based protections in the United States and oppose seabed mining. NOPC brings together more than 100 partners with diverse perspectives, cultures and geographies who are committed to protecting our ocean from human-caused stressors and the impacts of climate change. NOPC believes ocean protection works best when communities come together — across perspectives, industries, cultures and geographies — to design and move policies forward in a way that combines local knowledge and values with robust scientific understanding.