President Donald Trump is pushing to open over 113 million acres of Alaskan waters to seabed mining, sparking worries among Indigenous communities about cultural and environmental impacts. The plan targets minerals for electric vehicles and military tech, but critics highlight risks to fisheries and ecosystems. Local voices emphasize the threat to traditional ways of life reliant on marine resources.
President Donald Trump has proposed allowing companies to lease more than 113 million acres of waters off Alaska for seabed mining, the latest in a series of efforts targeting Pacific regions including American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. This fledgling industry involves scraping minerals from the ocean floor for use in electric vehicle batteries and military technology, though it remains non-commercial due to regulatory gaps and environmental concerns.
Scientists warn that deep-sea mining could harm fisheries and fragile ecosystems, with recovery potentially taking millennia. Indigenous peoples, who have ancestral ocean ties, argue it violates their rights to consent to projects in their territories. Trump supports the push to position the U.S. as a leader in critical mineral production, even advocating mining in international waters amid stalled global regulations.
Kate Finn, executive director of the Tallgrass Institute Center for Indigenous Economic Stewardship and a citizen of the Osage Nation, cautioned that the industry risks repeating land-based mining's failures with Indigenous communities. “Indigenous peoples have the right to give and to withdraw consent. Mining companies themselves need to design their operations around that right,” she said. Finn noted that under international law, Indigenous consent is required, and U.S. federal rules may fall short, especially with deregulation.
The proposed area, larger than California, includes depths exceeding 4 miles near the Aleutian Trench and abyssal plains in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. Cooper Freeman of the Center for Biological Diversity highlighted that it encompasses ecologically vital zones closed to bottom trawling, home to nurseries for key fish species.
Alaska hosts over 200 Native nations. Jasmine Monroe, Inupiaq, Yupik, and Cherokee from Elim in the Bering Strait region, expressed fears for community staples like beluga, walrus, seal, and whale. “Whatever happens in the ocean, it really does affect our way of life,” she said. Working on water quality at Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Monroe criticized the top-down approach and brief 30-day public comment period: “It just feels like we don’t have any say on whether it happens or not.”
While some Indigenous groups collaborate with miners under set conditions, Monroe views seabed mining as “another false solution,” given the high environmental and cultural costs despite its role in green tech.
No major companies like The Metals Company or Impossible Metals currently plan Alaska operations, though interest could grow if resources prove viable. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management seeks input on areas prospective for critical minerals and heavy mineral sands along the Seward Peninsula and Bering Sea coast.
