Fish on the sea floor near Mexico.
Fish on the sea floor near Mexico. Credit: Matthew T. Rader / Wikimedia Commons Credit: Matthew T. Rader / Wikimedia Commons

Portions of the ocean outside territorial waters, including the deep seabed, are formally recognized by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as the “common heritage of mankind.” These areas are to be managed for the benefit of everyone, and not owned by any nation.

From today’s perspective, it would be more appropriate to call the deep seabed “the common heritage of all life.” This is where life began.

The earliest microorganisms evolved at hydrothermal vents in the ocean depths, feeding on metals and on hydrogen and sulphur gases, where the seafloor was spreading owing to motion of tectonic plates.

The deep seabed, four to six kilometres below the ocean surface, is full of unique life forms: giant tube worms, mussels, crabs, shrimp, and bizarre fish. All are capable of withstanding pressures 500 times those at sea level. Microorganisms, still eating rocks and gases, provide the basis for these complex food webs. Some are closely related to the Last Universal Common Ancestor, dating back four billion years.

These biodiversity hotspots are under threat —guess why–Trump’s lunge for critical metals could come at a huge environmental cost by churning up the seabed.

In April 2025, Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14285, “Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources.” It says “Our Nation can access potentially vast resources in seabed polymetallic nodules,” and “other subsea geologic structures.” In Trump’s view, “America’s” resources extend well beyond America’s boundaries (to include Greenland? Canada?)

In January 2025, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration created a rule allowing issuance of “licenses for exploration and permits for commercial recovery of hard mineral resources from the deep seabed in areas beyond national jurisdiction.”

So much for the common heritage of mankind. Mining companies can own the places where life began.

Vancouver-based The Metals Company (through a US subsidiary) jumped out to be first in line, claiming an immense area (bigger than Nova Scotia) in the Pacific. Its stock price soared. But then Trump double-crossed them, putting hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into a land-based company (USA Rare Earth) instead. The Metals Company stock price then plummeted.

Is Canada engaging in these shenanigans? Of course we are. We’re taking bold actions to develop critical minerals through various federal programs and billions of dollars in subsidies.

The Strange Lake Rare Earth Mining Project in Labrador is an example. As a “project of national interest,” it would include a 1,500-meter airstrip, a metal mill, waste rock and tailings piles, and a 170-kilometer road to a new harbor on the Labrador coast.

The Innu Nation says this poses significant risks to their lands, waters, and way of life.”

Does impact assessment protect the Innu, and Canadian taxpayers? No. Already $165 million in federal subsidies have been awarded to the project proponent only 451 days into a 1095-day assessment.

Arguments that critical minerals are part of a “green” transition are unravelling. Military applications are a major and accelerating driver of the feverish rush to dig up the Earth. Seeking tungsten for armor-piercing ammunition, the U.S. Department of Defense is investing $20.7 million in the Sisson Mine project in New Brunswick.

Nothing is off limits, even areas outside national jurisdiction protected by international law.

Regarding the Trump assault on the cradle of life in the deep seabed, Dr. Alix Willimez says “If one major power can bypass the multilateral system, others will follow. The risk isn’t only environmental. It’s the collapse of collective rules in the global commons.”

Is it too impolite to mention the collapse of collective rules for protection of the Canadian environment?

Ole Hendrickson

Ole Hendrickson

Ole Hendrickson is an ecologist, a former federal research scientist, and chair of the Sierra Club Canada Foundation's national conservation committee.