Speak Out to Safeguard Coastal and Deep-Sea Habitats

American Samoa's coral reefs support a rich and diverse array of marine species, food sovereignty for local Indigenous peoples, and are known for their health and resilience. But these fragile and biodiverse reefs and the surrounding deep sea waters are now at risk from proposed mineral exploration and exploitative deep-sea mining.

Send a comment to the federal government, by the July 16 deadline, opposing proposed leases for commercial deep-sea mining in the waters of American Samoa.

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To: Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

I oppose commercial deep-sea mining in the waters offshore American Samoa.  I urge the federal government to halt lease sale plans for this area.

At this time, deep-sea mining technology is untested and unproven. Until the risks of deep-sea mining are better understood, our federal government must halt deep-sea mining lease sales and pursue sustainable pathways to meet its critical mineral demands, including reduction of demand for primary metals and the development of a resource efficient, materials circular economy.

Deep-sea mining operations permanently alter ecosystems and lead to significant, possibly staggering, biodiversity loss that may never be able to be recovered. American Samoa's coral reefs support a rich and diverse array of marine species, food sovereignty for local Indigenous peoples, and are known for their health and resilience. Do not allow the proposed mineral exploration and exploitative deep-sea mining offshore American Samoa.

I urge you to respect and uphold the sovereignty and Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of Indigenous peoples in the potentially affected lease sale area along with their right to food sovereignty which relies heavily on access to healthy seafood which would be threatened by this sale. This is critical to ensuring accountability, inclusivity, and environmentally and culturally responsible decision making.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this important decision.

Sincerely, 
{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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Oceans, Coasts & Marine Life