Prospects for International Collaboration in Marine Environmental Research to Enhance Understanding of the Deep Sea Environment
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PROSPECTS FOR INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION IN MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH TO ENHANCE UNDERSTANDING OF THE DEEP SEA ENVIRONMENT Prospects for International Collaboration in Marine Environmental Research To Enhance Understanding OF the Deep Sea Environment Prospects for International Collaboration in Marine Environmental Research to Enhance Understanding of the Deep-Sea Environment Proceedings of the International Seabed Authority’s Workshop held in Kingston, Jamaica, 29 July to 2 August 2002 Prepared by Office of Resources and Environmental Monitoring International Seabed Authority, Kingston, Jamaica The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the impression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Applications for such permission with a statement of purpose and extent of the reproduction should be addressed to the Secretary‐ General, International Seabed Authority, 14‐20 Port Royal Street, Kingston, Jamaica. International Seabed Authority Workshop (2002 : Kingston) Prospects for international collaboration in marine environmental research to enhance understanding of the deep‐sea environment: proceedings. 257p. : ill., maps ; cm. ISBN: 976‐610‐558‐8 1. Oceanography – Research 2. Ocean mining – Environmental aspects I. Title 333.916416 ‐ dc. 21 Copyright © International Seabed Authority 2006 International Seabed Authority 12‐20 Port Royal Street, Kingston, Jamaica, WI Tel: (876) 922‐9105, Fax: (876) 922‐0195 5 CONTENTS FOREWORD 7 WORKSHOP INTRODUCTION 10 LIST OF PARTICIPANTS 13 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 19 Part I ‐ SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION NEEDED TO PREDICT AND TO MANAGE THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF DEEP SEABED POLYMETALLIC NODULE MINING Chapter 1 The Kaplan Fund Project: International collaboration in marine scientific research to enhance understanding of the deep‐sea 35 environment Dr. Craig R. Smith, University of Hawaii, USA Chapter 2 Biodiversity and taxonomic issues: particularly standardization 48 Dr. John Lambshead, The Natural History Museum, United Kingdom Chapter 3 New molecular approaches to biodiversity assessment in species rich environments 61 Dr. Alex Rogers, British Antarctic Survey, United Kingdom Chapter 4 Enhancing the Understanding of the Deep Sea Environment: Examples from the Atlantic Ocean 81 Dr David Billet, Southampton Oceanography Centre, United Kingdom Chapter 5 Megafauna biodiversity as a tool for monitoring manganese nodules: A proposal for converting available data into a digital database 86 Dr. Gerd Schriever, Biolab Research Institute, Germany; Dr. Michael Tuerkay, Senckenberg Research Museum, Germany Chapter 6 Disturbance and recolonization processes Dr. Craig R. Smith, University of Hawaii, USA; Dr. Paul Snelgrove, 108 Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada Chapter 7 Mining plume impacts on water column ecosystems 121 Dr. B. Nagendar Nath, National Institute of Oceanography, India Chapter 8 Interannual variability of deep sea ecosystems and environmental impact assessment of potential seabed mining 149 Dr. Huaiyang Zhou, Chunsheng Wang; State Oceanic Administration, People’s Republic of China 6 Part II ‐ ACTIVITIES OF CONTRACTORS IN THE MEDIUM TERM AND PROSPECTS FOR COLLABORATION IN IDENTIFIED RESEARCH PROJECTS Chapter 9 Introduction to environmental research programme of COMRA Mr. Bin Mao, COMRA; Huiayang Zhou, State Oceanic 160 Administration, PR China Chapter 10 Japan nodule development environmental impact study Mr. Masao Someya, DORD; Dr. Tomohio Fukushima, Marine 168 Biological Research Institute of Japan Chapter 11 Korea Deep Ocean Study: KORDI’s Environmental Programme 182 Dr. Woong‐Seo Kim, KORDI, Korea Chapter 12 IOM Comments and Recommendations on Collaboration 191 Dr. Ryszard Kotlinski, IOM, Poland Chapter 13 Perspective from “Yuzhmorgeologiya “ Experience 198 Mr. Mikhail Pilipchuk, Yuzhmorgeologiya, Russian Federation Chapter 14 IOC Possible Support for Research and Collaborations 202 Mr. Umit Unluata, Ocean Sciences, IOC/UNESCO, France Chapter 15 The Legal and Technical Commission 205 Mr. Arne Bjørlykke Part III ‐ CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND FOLLOW‐UP OF THE WORKSHOP AND OF ITS WORKING GROUPS Chapter 16 Report and recommendations of the Working Group on levels 210 of biodiversity, species ranges and gene flow Chapter 17 Report and recommendations of the Working Group on 219 Disturbance and recolonization processes at the seafloor Chapter 18 Report and recommendations of the Working Group on water 226 column ecosystem impacts Chapter 19 Report and recommendations of the Working Group on natural 230 and spatial variability in deep ocean ecosystems APPENDICES A Megabenthic assemblages associated with polymetallic nodules 236 in the Clarion‐Clipperton fracture zone East Pacific Ocean B Summary of Proposed Research from the International Seabed 245 Authority workshop held in March 2002 C Report on a workshop to confirm collaborations in research on levels of biodiversity, species ranges and rates of gene flow 250 held at the British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 25‐27 November 2002 7 FOREWORD Satya N Nandan, International Seabed Authority Secretary‐General I hope that you will have a very fruitful meeting. It has almost become a practice for the Secretariat of the International Seabed Authority to precede the annual session of the Authority with a workshop. For these workshops, the Authority tries to select matters of practical interest to its work, and to increase the international community’s knowledge base for the development of deep seabed mineral resources. The Authority’s first workshop, to assist the Legal and Technical Commission to make recommendations to the Authority concerning the establishment of environmental baselines to evaluate the likely effects on the marine environment of activities in the Area, was held in Sanya, the People’s Republic of China. This has been followed by several workshops held in Kingston, Jamaica. In all previous workshops we have focused on obtaining a better understanding of the mineral resources to be found in the international seabed area, the environment in which they are to be found, and to prepare to manage the impact of exploration and mining on the environment. This meeting is somewhat different in that we are trying to see how to proceed towards some practical cooperation in learning more about the international area and the marine environment. As you are aware, the Authority has a mandate, in broad terms, to administer the international seabed area and its resources. It also has a mandate to protect and preserve the marine environment and to promote marine scientific research. So the discussion in this workshop relates very much to these three areas; mining, environmental protection, and promotion of marine science. Administering the Area requires knowledge of the Area. The only way one can learn about the Area is through scientific research and at the present time, mineral exploration. We have learnt something about the Area from contractors with the Authority. These contractors are engaged in exploration for polymetallic nodules and hope to start mining these mineral resources at the opportune time. They are not undertaking their activities in the broad pursuit of science. The contractors are working towards extracting mineral resources from the deep seabed. While there is a certain amount of science inherent in that effort, and under the Mining Code they are required to observe certain aspects of the oceans in relation to the activities that they undertake, theirs is not marine scientific research. In order to be able to manage mining the resources of the Area in such a way as to prevent serious harm to the marine environment, however, the Authority has to have broader knowledge of the Area. Information gathered through marine scientific research has proven very useful for the Authority in relation to the knowledge that it has acquired on the resources that it administers and the environment in which they occur. Such information is also useful for contractors to obtain a better understanding of the marine environment in nodule bearing areas. With such 8 knowledge, the Authority can better regulate the activities of contractors in respect of environmental requirements. An example related to biodiversity and species extinctions from mining in the CCZ is that if it is established through scientific investigations that benthic species in potential nodule mining areas within the CCZ are distributed throughout the zone, and that genetic exchange takes place from one end of the CCZ to the other, then less regulation will be required to protect these species from mining since their recovery is assured. This is just one example of the way that marine science and broader knowledge of the Area would help the Authority in its role as Administrator of the Area, and at the same time reduce contractors development costs. For scientists, these workshops are also very attractive because they provide a more focused rationale for undertaking marine scientific research that is relevant to the development of deep seabed mineral resources.