In the May 16 issue of Science, Environmental Law Institute’s Ocean Program Co-Director, Dr. Kathryn Mengerink, and co-authors call for stewardship of the world’s largest living space—striking a balance between wise use of vast resources and maintaining the deep ocean’s delicate ecological balance—now, before permanent loss occurs. According to co-author and Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Dr. Lisa Levin, “Most of the deep ocean has never been explored. But what we have seen reveals a vast diversity of life forms and habitats important to the heath of our planet. Slow growing species are the norm, and some ecosystems once injured may never recover.”
The deep ocean, below 200 meters, faces mounting challenges, as impacts from activities such as fishing, oil and gas development, waste disposal, and land-based pollution have already caused long-term and possibly irreversible injury to some deep ocean environments. Industrial-scale mining looms on the horizon. Governance of the water column and the seabed below 200 meters is a mixed-bag of regulations across national and international jurisdictions, throwing more stumbling blocks in the path to ensure the long-term health of the deep ocean.
“As we explain in the paper, to advance deep-ocean stewardship,” Dr. Mengerink says, “We need to move forward with caution, protecting and minimizing impacts to known sensitive species and areas and the vast unknown. We should invest in improving our knowledge of the deep before further exploiting its resources, so that we don’t suffer irreversible loss of incredible organisms and ecosystems.”
The International Seabed Authority has already developed regulations for mining exploration for the international seabed and has just started the process to develop exploitation regulations. In addition, many nations are in the process of leasing for offshore mining. According to Dr. Mengerink, “Now is the time to carefully design laws and policies that enable wise use of mining and other resources, while maintaining healthy oceans and communities.” Given the substantial knowledge gaps, future exploitation of deep-ocean resources will inevitably be punctuated with new discoveries as well as unexpected harmful effects of planned activities. Both will require transparent and adaptive decision-making, balancing exploitation with lasting protection of habitats, biodiversity, and ecosystem services.
The ideas for this paper arose during an inaugural meeting of the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative (DOSI). According to Dr. Levin, one of DOSI’s founders, “The Initiative is designed to bring natural and social scientists, regulators, the private sector and civil society together to provide guidance on environmental management of the deep ocean. We humans don’t have a great track record with stewardship of land and our coastal ocean. Hopefully, we can do a better job with the deep half of the planet”
This paper is part of ELI’s broader efforts to support sustainable management of the deep ocean, including its Gulf of Mexico Program to support the public’s role in restoration in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster of 2010.
The J.M. Kaplan Fund and the International Network for Scientific Investigation of deep-sea ecosystems (INDEEP) through a grant from Fondation Total have supported development of the Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative.
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