A rare window is opening to secure binding environmental commitments to protect seamounts — the 2026 UN Bottom Fisheries Review, a pivotal process that could decide the future of more than 21% of the world’s seabed.
Defend the deep, protect our future
Scientists in recent decades have uncovered a previously unknown wealth of life in the dark depths of the ocean. Cold-water corals, sponge fields, seamounts, hydrothermal vents and a multitude of other ecosystems are home to strange and mysterious creatures found nowhere else on Earth.
We are just beginning to discover how these extraordinary ecosystems can offer humankind new scientific avenues and answers about the nature of life itself. But these fragile places and their remarkable biodiversity are threatened by climate change, deep-sea fishing, deep-sea mining and other human activity. The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) wants robust action to be taken to protect the ocean depths, their remarkable species and the secrets they hold.
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You can help stop deep-sea mining before it’s too late. Call on governments to support a moratorium today.
In an open letter to the UN, leading scientists urge States to fully implement existing commitments to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems, including seamounts, from destructive fishing practices.
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Governments fail to protect the global commons as ISA meeting ends without action, while calls for a deep-sea mining moratorium grow
July 31, 2026Governments concluded three weeks of negotiations at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) with the only substantive decision being to expand the rights of mining contractors, highlighting the Authority’s misaligned priorities when the future of the deep sea is at stake
ISA Council developments reinforce the case for a deep-sea mining moratorium as contractor non-compliance inquiry continues
July 25, 2026Governments concluded two weeks of negotiations today at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Council with the case for a moratorium on deep-sea mining even stronger than when they arrived. Over the course of the meeting, governments heard the ISA’s own experts highlight immense scientific uncertainty, confirmed that the contractor non-compliance inquiry will continue, and continued negotiating a Mining Code and wider governance framework that remains far from complete and remains inadequate to protect the marine environment and uphold equity.
Scientists underline the urgent need to end bottom trawling on seamounts
July 24, 2026Scientific evidence presented at last week’s UN Bottom Fisheries Workshop (13-14 July, New York) shows that existing measures have not prevented ongoing damage to seamounts and other vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems. The findings reinforce the DSCC’s call for governments to lock in a firm 2027 deadline to end bottom trawling on high seas seamounts.
UN Review puts governments under pressure to end destructive bottom trawling on high seas seamounts
July 13, 2026Leading scientists, policymakers and civil society organizations will gather from 13-14 July for a critical UN workshop that could determine the future of more than 21% of the world's seabed. As part of the 2026 UN Bottom Fisheries Review, the workshop will evaluate how governments and regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) are implementing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions to protect seamounts from destructive fishing practices.
ISA Council and Assembly start as deep-sea mining becomes a test of whether international law can protect the global commons
July 13, 2026Governments arrive in Kingston, Jamaica this week for the International Seabed Authority’s (ISA) Council and Assembly as international law and the future of the deep sea come under increasing pressure. The Metals Company (TMC) is attempting to unilaterally mine the international seabed through US domestic law, a move widely considered illegal under international law, even as 43 countries, including for the first time three African nations, have lined up behind a moratorium or precautionary pause on deep-sea mining.
The UN Bottom Fisheries Workshop and Review 2026: A Turning Point for the Deep Sea?
May 18, 2026The UN Bottom Fisheries Workshop in July 2026 marks a critical moment for deep-sea protection. Learn how bottom trawling threatens seamounts and what the international community must do to stop it.
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