While the member countries of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) opened their meeting in Jamaica to negotiate the rules that will give the green light to the deep seabed mining industry, U.S. Congressman Ed Case, from Hawaii, introduced measures to halt it until the full consequences of this activity are understood and protective regulatory regimes are in place.
"Our deep oceans and seabed are the last unexplored regions of our world, yet what we do know of them is that they are among our most intricate and fragile," said Case. Joining him in co-sponsoring this legislation are Congress members Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Chellie Pingree (D-ME).
It should be recalled that regulators of activities such as fishing, shipping, and deep sea mining may be exempt from conducting environmental impact assessments required by the United Nations High Seas Treaty, which last March reached an international agreement to safeguard biodiversity and sustainability on the high seas.
In presenting his measures, Case recalled that, in addition to being one of the largest and most important carbon reservoirs on the planet, the deep sea is home to massive and interrelated biodiversity seen almost nowhere else and could play a key role in combating climate change. "Yet all of these species and natural processes, and in fact our entire marine ecosystem, are now imperiled by the imminent commencement of large-scale commercial seabed mining operations," he statated. "Seabed mining could take a number of destructive forms, including methods which would shear off seamounts on the ocean floor, the functional equivalent of strip mining."
The objective of the American Seabed Protection Act is to impose a moratorium on deep-sea mining activities in U.S. waters or by U.S. companies on the high seas. In addition, it also tasks the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Academies of Science (NASEM) with conducting a comprehensive assessment of how mining activities could affect ocean species, carbon sequestration processes, and ocean-dependent communities.
As mentioned, Case's bill has had the support of several other Congress members. "While deep sea mining holds potential to provide minerals for batteries and other renewable energy technology, we cannot blindly exploit the ocean floor," said Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), and House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member. "Our transition to renewable energy must be just and safe."
"Mining in pristine, fragile ecosystems like the seabed could open a pandoras box of unintended consequences reaching far beyond the excavation sites," added Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA). "This kind of activity could decimate fish and marine mammal populations, destroy ecosystems, and inhibit carbon sequestration. Extracting industries should not have carte blanche access to what are some of the last untouched places on our planet."
For her part, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) said that seabed mining poses a risk to the health of the ocean and the life it supports. "We must not disrupt the fragile marine environment and its aquatic inhabitants when there is still much more to learn about seabed mining and its effects," she continued. "Let's promote proven ocean-climate solutions that enhance natural processes and avoid any action that may permanently damage precious ecosystems."
In addition to Congress members, this legislation has the support of several environmental organizations. Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, Earthjustice, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Ocean Protection Coalition, Sustainable Ocean Alliance, Greenpeace USA, Earthworks, Benioff Ocean Science Lab, Blue Climate Initiative, Ocean Foundation, Marine Conservation Institute, Parley for the Oceans, Oceanic Preservation Society, Inland Ocean Coalition, FutureSwell, Consejo de Conservación de Hawai'i, Keiko Conservation, 350Hawai'i, Zero Waste Hawai'i Island y Greenpeace Hawai'i have shown their support for Congressman Case's initiative.
"We applaud Representative Case's initiative to ensure that the US stands on the right side of history by protecting the deep sea from destruction," said Greenpeace USA in a statement. "Reckless mining interests are seeking to establish a new extractive industry in the midst of an ecological and climate crisis. If we could go back in time and stop the destruction from land-based mining or the oil and gas industry, most of us would—this is the opportunity we have now with our deep seas, which remain the last untouched wilderness on our planet."
"The deep seabed of our ocean is teeming with diverse ecosystems and species that scientists are still discovering and that are interconnected with shallow ocean waters and the climate," stated Addie Haughey, Earthjustice Legislative Director for Lands, Wildlife and Oceans. "As multinational mining companies rush to utilize untested technologies to exploit the deep seabed for its mineral resources, we need strong protections to prevent permanent damage to ocean ecosystems and the communities in the Pacific and elsewhere that rely upon them."
For his part, Matthew Gianni, co-founder of Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, claimed there is "a lot of misleading information and unsubstantiated hype about deep-sea mining being peddled by the proponents of this industry both in the United States and at the International Seabed Authority." Therefore, he considers that "Congressman Case's bills are timely and critically important in calling on the National Academy of Science and others to conduct an independent study to assess the environmental and social risks of this industry and for the US to promote a moratorium on any deep-sea mining to prevent the ISA from causing large-scale irreversible damage to the environment, including the ocean's role as a carbon sink, and disruptions to fisheries and coastal communities in Hawaii and elsewhere in the Pacific."
The act, promoted by Case also coincides in time with a joint statement by several groups in defense of sustainable seafood products calling for a pause in deepwater mining development. "As producers, fishers, retailers, suppliers, and managers of sustainable seafood, we recognize the critical role of healthy and productive ecosystems in supporting sustainable fisheries and seafood supply chains. As such, we are deeply concerned about the aforementioned potential impacts of deep-sea mining on the health and resilience of the ocean, and the consequences it might bring in terms of the quality and quantity of seafood supply and the communities they support," said the letter signed by Global Tuna Alliance, Fishwise, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program, Mar & Comercio, Joseph Robertson Aberdeen Ltd, the Sustainable Seafood Coalition, and Lusamerica Fish.
