Kawerak board backs seabed mining moratorium off Alaska ahead of AFN vote

Kawerak, Inc.'s board voted unanimously Oct. 1 to back a moratorium on seabed mineral exploration, leasing and extraction in Alaska's federal waters and the Outer Continental Shelf, until environmental, subsistence, cultural and economic impacts are understood and affected tribes are fully consulted. Kawerak announced the vote Oct. 7.

Kawerak, Sealaska and the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska sent a parallel resolution to the Alaska Federation of Natives. AFN delegates meet in Anchorage Oct. 22 to 24, and the organization says resolutions passed at convention set its priorities for the year.

Kawerak is the regional tribal consortium for the Bering Strait region's 20 federally recognized tribes.

The resolution asks the Interior Department to suspend lease-sale consideration and avoid issuing a Proposed Leasing Notice. It calls for government-to-government consultation, baseline studies, Indigenous Knowledge and a full environmental impact statement that includes a no-lease option before any future development. It also urges the Alaska State Legislature, the state administration and Alaska's congressional delegation to support a moratorium.

The board first opposed seabed mining in federal waters of Norton Sound and the Bering Sea last spring. In a June 8 letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management leaders, Kawerak President Melanie Bahnke wrote that the Norton Sound mineral sands area overlaps the summer red king crab closure zone, 10 to 15 miles offshore, and noted the 2025 summer commercial crab fishery was valued at $3.54 million. "We do not want to be the guinea pigs for an experimental industry that has the potential to profoundly impact the marine environment and our ways of living," Bahnke wrote.

BOEM opened the review Jan. 29, seeking input on about 113.7 million acres across six areas, including the Norton Sound and Goodnews Bay heavy mineral sands, though the agency says the request is not a decision to lease. A federal minerals lease would run at least 20 years. "Alaska's offshore holds strategic potential for the minerals that drive American industry, defense and next-generation technologies," said Acting Director Matt Giacona.

The city of Nome supports responsible development of the sands offshore. "Offshore mineral development should proceed with appropriate safeguards to ensure that other coastal resources are not jeopardized," said Mayor Kenneth A. Hughes III.

Public comment closed April 1 with more than 68,000 submissions logged on regulations.gov, though the docket shows about 2,600 distinct records since some submissions bundle many comments. BOEM has issued Proposed Leasing Notices for American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands but not for Alaska. Interior's 2027 budget justification lists both December 2026 and 2027 as possible dates for an Alaska sale.