Stop Deep Seabed Mining

November 1 marked the International Day of the Seabed—a moment to honor the vast, life-giving depths of one of God’s most mysterious and life-sustaining ecosystems—
the deep ocean.

As Catholics, we are called to protect our common home. The ocean’s depths—teeming with life and vital to Earth’s climate—are sacred gifts of God, not commodities to exploit.

Scientists warn that deep-sea mining operations—which involve dragging massive machinery across the seabed—would create plumes of sediment and noise pollution extending for miles, smothering fragile ecosystems and disrupting the migratory paths of marine mammals and fish.

Protecting this ‘common home’ means recognizing the deep ocean’s crucial role in regulating global climate by acting as the largest active carbon sink. The destruction of these pristine, slow-recovering habitats is a profound moral failing that prioritizes short-term profit over long-term planetary health and our sacred duty as stewards of creation. This is an urgent issue of environmental justice for coastal and island nations reliant on healthy oceans.

The head of the International Seabed Authority released a statement criticizing the Trump administration’s plans to mine in open ocean beyond U.S territory waters, stating that the unilateral action violates the “Common Heritage of Humankind” principle under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which designates the deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction as belonging to all nations. This move by the Trump administration directly challenges the International Seabed Authority, risking a dangerous geopolitical scramble for resources.

Join us in asking Congress to oppose the Trump Administration’s executive order “Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources” and H.R. 4018, which would fast-track deep sea mining in the open ocean outside of U.S. territorial waters, destroying habitats that have taken millions of years to form, and endangering marine life and coastal communities.

Mining the sea floor would cause irreversible harm to creation and threaten communities that depend on it. Please tell Congress to reject this reckless policy and support a global moratorium on deep sea mining to safeguard God’s creation.

FAITH IN ACTION: Write to Congress at https://bit.ly/StopDeepSeabedMining