The Trump administration is auctioning off American Samoa's ocean floor to mining companies — and it could happen as soon as November 2026.

The Department of the Interior's Marine Minerals Administration has proposed a lease sale covering more than 31 million acres of federal waters off American Samoa. Companies would bid for 20 years of rights to extract cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese from the seafloor. If it moves forward, it would be the first deep-sea mining lease sale anywhere in the world — before a single safety regulation exists in the US or globally.

Right next to the proposed mining zone is Rose Atoll, a national wildlife refuge and marine national monument. It's one of the most intact reef ecosystems remaining under US control. Hawksbill sea turtles nest on its shores. Humpback whales pass through its waters. Giant clams, nearly gone from the rest of the Pacific, still thrive there. "It's one of the last largely intact marine ecosystems that we have under US jurisdiction," said Alan Friedlander, a marine biologist at the University of Hawaii who surveyed the area with NOAA.

For American Samoans, this isn't just about wildlife — it's about their food, their culture, and their tuna fisheries. "Our ocean is our home, our food, our culture, and our future," said Sabrina Suluai-Mahuka, founder of Finafinau, an American Samoa environmental advocacy group. "We are calling on the Administration to stop this reckless lease sale before irreversible harm is done."

Sign this petition to demand the Trump administration halt the American Samoa deep-sea mining lease sale before it causes permanent, irreversible damage to one of America's most precious — and most vulnerable — ocean ecosystems.