To National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in response to Deep Seabed Mining: Revisions to regulations for exploration license and commercial recovery permit applications ID NOAA-NOS-2025-0108-0001
Deep Sea Defenders is an all-volunteer international organization founded in September 2021. We are dedicated to protecting the integrity, stability and beauty of the deep sea environment, the organisms who live there, and the people who depend upon the health of the ocean for their traditional livelihoods. We oppose deep sea mining and support the call for a global ban. Our vision is for a healthy ocean where natural communities thrive.
Because of the immense implications of the proposed rule change and the vast amount of regulations and research involved in understanding it, the 60 day public comment period has not been adequate. Just trying to find the actual rule change let alone the actual Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA) regulations themselves is difficult. There has also been an insufficient amount of publicity on this critical matter. There are many stakeholders that are only just now becoming aware of what is about to occur. Therefore we request an extension to the public comment period to provide more opportunity for organizations and individuals to prepare their arguments.
In keeping with the precautionary principal with regards to the amount of ecological damage that deep sea mining will have on the marine environment, we strongly oppose the combination of the exploration license and the commercial recovery permits. Also because of the international ramifications of this unilateral action, to bypass International Seabed Authority, proceeding will jeopardize this country’s national security.
The deep sea mining industry has not matured and requires much more research from activities undertaken by site-specific exploration. Circumstances have not evolved sufficiently as to allow entrants to bypass information gathering. Follow-up studies are need to assess the impacts on previously explored areas.
Despite years of research, little is known about the deep ocean. The potential effects of seabed mining on the marine environment remain poorly understood. Many fear that extracting minerals from the deep sea could pose grave consequences for both marine life and planetary health. The current technology involves mining machines that would remove mineral deposits from the seabed, along with the top layers of sediment, using suction. The materials collected would then be piped up to a surface vessel for processing. Any waste, such as sediments and other organic materials, would be pumped back into the water column. This technology destroys the habitat on the sea floor while creating sediment plumes both at depth and in the mid water column where waste is discharged.
Sediment plumes may travel thousands of kilometers. This agitated combination of silt and heavy metals will smother countless organisms, preventing them from breathing and eating. It will also block bioluminescent light that some species use to attract prey and find mates, plus damage (perhaps fatally) the respiratory systems of billions of fish.
Species extinction is considered a “likely outcome” of deep sea mining. Deep sea mining would cause habitat destruction and noise pollution to ecosystems formed over millions of years.
There is not sufficient baseline data, nor can the risks of seabed mining be accurately predicted or mitigated.
While the deep sea was once thought to be devoid of life, we now know that it is the largest habitable space on the planet and home to a dazzling array of marine life. To date, tens of thousands of species have been found in the deep ocean. Estimates say there could be millions more.
In the Clarion-Clipperton Zone alone, a key area of interest for deep sea mining, researchers have recently discovered over 5,000 species that were entirely new to science. Some species inhabiting the deep sea live under cold conditions without sunlight and survive on little food. To be successful under such conditions, deep sea species have low metabolic rates. They move slowly, live for a long time, and take many years to reproduce. In general, these traits mean species may be slow to recover from disturbances.
The ocean is the world’s largest carbon sink, absorbing around 25% of all carbon dioxide emissions. Microscopic organisms play a critical role in this climate regulating system, helping to sequester carbon in the deep sea and reduce emissions of other greenhouse gases (such as methane) from seabed sediments. The loss of deep-sea biodiversity following mining activity may impact the ocean’s carbon cycle and reduce its ability to help mitigate global temperature rise.
In addition to environmental concerns, the start of deep-sea mining raises questions about the equitable sharing of benefits resulting from such activities in light of the fact that the deep seabed and its resources are considered by UNCLOS to be the “common heritage of [hu]mankind”. This principle reflects the fact that the deep sea in international waters (the Area) is beyond the territorial jurisdiction of any nation and open to use by all in accordance with commonly accepted rules.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2749 (XXV)(1970) set forth this principle. The Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act of 1980 (30 U.S.C. § 1401 et seq.) (DSHMRA) incorporated this principle into U.S. law.
Article 137, like the DSHMRA, advances these interests by providing that no State shall claim or exercise sovereignty over any part of the Area or its resources or recognize such claims by others.
Any unilateral action outside the UNCLOS framework sets a dangerous precedent that could destabilize the entire system of global ocean governance. The U.S.’s plan is prioritizing its own economic benefit and rivalry with China, the global leader in critical-minerals production, over the interests of humankind. The Chinese ISA delegation called the U.S.’s explanation for issuing licenses and permits “unacceptable.” It omits key facts, the Chinese delegate said, about America’s long history of obeying and endorsing international law regarding the high seas.
The U.S. is legally beholden to the UNCLOS treaty, even if the country never chose ratification. America’s active participation in annual meetings means that, under international law, the U.S. can’t claim to be a “persistent objector,” which could exempt it from the treaty’s terms. The Law of the Sea does more than regulate the seabed. It keeps peace for U.S. fisheries, naval operations, and cargo shipping, and enforces the country’s maritime boundaries.
Companies promoting the green transition as the need for deep sea mining was always a false narrative. The numbers just don’t add up to justify opening the world’s last unspoiled wilderness to mass-scale extractive exploitation. Now, the industry is repackaging itself as essential to national security and defense, exploiting real geopolitical tensions for personal profit. It’s a dangerous and unnecessary strategy that could destroy the international seabed to enrich a few.
These minerals are sometimes linked to defense applications, but there is little evidence that U.S. military procurement prioritizes them or that seabed mining is necessary. U.S. sanctioned seabed mining contributes nothing to solving the real chokepoint: China’s dominance in processing, not extraction.
There is no need for a consolidated license and permit review in which permit applicants can meet exploration license requirements to establish priority of right, and permit requirements, simultaneously. In 1986, consolidation of the two procedures was premature and it still is.
Sincerely, Carl van Warmerdam Co-Chair Deep Sea Defenders – USA