Greenpeace USA activist and Hawaiian allies call on the U.S. government to stop their plans to open deep sea mining in U.S. and international waters in front of the NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer in Honolulu, Hawai`i. The NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer (R 337)(IMO: 8835114) is the only U.S. federal vessel dedicated to systematically exploring the unknown reaches of the world's oceans. Its 2026 mission, part of the "Beyond the Blue: Illuminating the Pacific" campaign includes mineral mapping in American Samoa and the Cook Islands, an activity believed to support Trump’s April 25, 2025 Executive Order: "UNLEASHING AMERICA’S OFFSHORE CRITICAL MINERALS AND RESOURCES”. The E.O. ignited a process to open U.S. and international water to deep sea mining. As of May 2026 the E.O. process has led to 4 international license applications and 3 domestic lease scoping areas - in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and offshore Alaska. A lease sale for deep sea mining in American Samoa by the Marine Minerals Administration (MMA) is projected for August 2026.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 16, 2026) – The Trump administration has announced a proposed deep sea mining lease sale1 in federal waters near American Samoa, marking the world’s first attempt to commercially mine the deep sea. The move is a major step toward opening U.S. waters to commercial deep sea mining and comes despite mounting opposition from Pacific Indigenous leaders, Pacific communities, and civil society groups. 

Arlo Hemphill, Greenpeace USA Oceans Are Life Campaign Lead, said:  “The Trump administration is attempting to launch the world’s first commercial deep sea mining lease sale despite clear opposition from Pacific communities and major unanswered scientific questions. Pacific peoples are being asked to shoulder the risks of a destructive new industry enabling corporations to chase profits in one of the last wild places on earth.”

The announcement comes after American Samoa imposed a moratorium on seabed mining in its waters and formally opposed federal proposals to mine the outer continental shelf near the territory. An April document issued by the newly redesignated Marine Minerals Administration (MMA) outlined plans for lease sales in American Samoa in August 2026 and indicated funding for tribal and Pacific Islands outreach would only follow the lease sales, a clear breach in the consultation of affected communities. 

“The federal government is moving forward with a decision affecting Pacific communities before meaningful consultation has even begun — scheduling outreach after the lease sale, not before it,” added Hemphill. 

Sabrina Suluai-Mahuka, founder of American Samoa’s Finafinau Foundation2 said: “Pacific people have made our position clear: we do not want deep sea mining in our waters. Yet the Trump administration is forcing this industry on our communities – imposing decisions that could affect us permanently without consulting us. Our ocean is our home, our food, our culture, and our future, and we are calling on the Administration to stop this reckless lease sale before irreversible harm is done.” 

Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, which were also identified in MMA documents for future lease sales, have similarly expressed opposition to deep sea mining proposals. Their opposition includes a recent call by both governors for a moratorium on the practice. More than 3,000 residents from U.S. territories have signed petitions opposing the industry’s launch in the region. And on June 5th the governor of Guam signed a ban in nearshore waters under territorial control.

Solomon “Uncle Sol” Pili Kahoʻohalahala, a Native Hawaiian Elder of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument Advisory Council and Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group, said:  “The Pacific has already seen what happens when governments and corporations treat our ocean as something to exploit instead of a living system that sustains our people. Indigenous leaders across the Pacific are standing together against deep sea mining because we know the risks will not stop at our shorelines. The ocean connects our communities across generations, and Pacific peoples will continue protecting it.”   

More photos can be viewed here and images of Pacific leaders lobbying in Washington, DC can be seen here.

Contacts:

Tanya Brooks, Senior Communications Specialist at Greenpeace USA, [email protected], +1 703 342 9226

Greenpeace USA Press Desk: [email protected]   

Greenpeace USA (Inc.) is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa.

  1.  The lease sale comes amid an aggressive push by the Trump administration and deep sea mining companies, including The Metals Company (TMC), to fast-track commercial extraction in U.S. and international waters under the banner of national security and critical minerals. ↩︎
  2.  Suluai-Mahuka led an opposition event in American Samoa when the lease sale was announced July 16 called “Stand with the Moana”. ↩︎