Update
Critical action
The Department of the Interior is accepting public input on a potential mineral lease sale of Alaska’s offshore waters until April 1st. Alaskans need to be meaningfully consulted. If you have not already done so, please use our template to write a public comment and influence Alaskan decision-makers: The government must prioritize Alaska’s food systems, cultures, economies, and community well-being.
Deep-sea mining is a speculative industry that seeks to extract mineral-rich deposits from the ocean floor. With potentially disastrous consequences, it's not commercially viable or permitted anywhere in the world. But that's not stopping the federal government from teeing up Alaska to be a testing ground for this controversial process.
Scientists are only beginning to understand the deep sea’s complex ecosystems, the many vulnerable species that call it home, and the global processes they influence. Advancing deep-sea mining risks:
Long-term ecological damage: There’s no proven way to restore deep-sea ecosystems once damaged.
Widespread pollution: The huge clouds of sediment unsettled by mining activity can spread hundreds of miles, spreading heavy metals and potentially toxic chemicals that pose risks to marine animals and people alike.
Destroy critical fish habitat: Strip mining seamounts and other deep-sea features wrecks essential habitat for some of Alaska's most important fisheries.
Undermining habitat protections: Many proposed leasing areas have already been identified, and set aside by fisheries managers, as essential habitat.
If deep-sea mining moves forward, Alaskan communities will bear the brunt of the risks without any guarantee of economic reward. Fisheries could be irreversibly harmed by stirred-up sediment plumes and decimated habitat, as the extracted minerals themselves are shipped and processed outside Alaska. It's a lose-lose situation.
We're calling to prevent severe environmental impacts any seabed mining would have in Alaskan waters. The government must:
We have a limited window to speak up. The Department of the Interior is accepting public input on the potential lease sale of Alaska offshore waters until April 1st. Communities, Tribes, and stakeholders need to be meaningfully consulted. By raising our voices together, we have the power to influence Alaskan decision-makers to prioritize the state’s food systems, cultures, economies, and community well-being over private profit and pollution.
After you’ve submitted a comment, can you take the extra step to forward your message to your representatives? Let them know what’s at stake by reaching them at the emails included at the bottom of the template.
To learn more and stay updated as the debate continues, sign up on this page. We need Alaskans to remain vigilant and involved throughout this process.
