More Than $321,000,000,000 At Risk: Deep Sea Controversy

Jeff Waters, the Ocean Conservancy’s vice president for external affairs, issued the following statement in response. “This executive order flies in the face of NOAA’s mission. NOAA is charged with protecting, not imperiling, the ocean and its economic benefits, including fishing and tourism; and scientists agree that deep-sea mining is a deeply dangerous endeavor for our ocean and all of us who depend on it.”

While there are several proposals and projects for deep sea mining across the world, this order focuses on the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, an area roughly the size of the United States that lies between Hawaii and Mexico. If the perceived risks hold true, deep sea mining in this area would disrupt the American fishing industry–valued at over $300 billion annually–as well as the ocean dependent tourism industry across Hawaii, California, and the entire Pacific Coast of Mexico. This brings to mind the famous quote from Ansel Adams, “Once destroyed, nature’s beauty cannot be repurchased at any price.” 

Watters adds, “Areas of the U.S. seafloor where test mining took place over 50 years ago still haven’t fully recovered. The harm caused by deep-sea mining isn’t restricted to the ocean floor: it will impact the entire water column, top to bottom, and everyone and everything relying on it. Evidence tells us that areas targeted for deep-sea mining often overlap with important fisheries, raising serious concerns about the impacts on the country’s $321 billion fishing industry.”  See the video below for an explanation of the risks.

NOAA is–or at least, used to be–the world’s preeminent agency for everything from weather forecasting, to monitoring seismic and volcanic activity. Even our surf forecasts depend on their data. All of their work has since been jeopardized after facing enormous cuts at the direction of Elon Musk and DOGE. To this, Watters elaborated on the importance of the imperiled agency, “NOAA is already being threatened by this Administration’s unprecedented cuts. NOAA is the eyes and ears for our water and air.  NOAA provides Americans with accessible and accurate weather forecasts; it tracks hurricanes and tsunamis; it responds to oil spills; it keeps seafood on the table; and so much more.  Forcing the agency to carry out deep-sea mining permitting while these essential services are slashed will only harm our ocean and our country.”

If we are serious about the “greatness” of our nation, then we need to be prioritizing initiatives that restore the ocean--like regenerative ocean farming for kelp, seaweed, and shellfish--that create actual jobs for Americans and put literal food on the table (see video below). In a time where dead dolphins, seals, and whales are washing ashore in California from toxic algae blooms, the writing is on the wall that the ocean needs our help–lest we forget that we need it too. 

The United States should set the tone for proper stewardship of our seas, not just because it is the moral thing to do, but because it is the single greatest thing that enables us to live.

Watters adds,“It’s not just our country this executive order would harm: this action has far-reaching implications beyond the U.S.. By unilaterally pursuing mining in international waters in defiance of the rest of the world, the Administration is opening a door for other countries to do the same — and all of us, and the ocean we all depend on, will be worse off for it."

Stay tuned for follow up articles on regenerative ocean farming.