Valuing the Deep: Marine Genetic Resources in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction Contract Reference: MB0128 – A review of current knowledge regarding marine genetic resources and their current and projected economic value to the UK economy. Report Number: Final Version One July 2014 Project Title: A review of current knowledge regarding marine genetic resources and their current and projected economic value to the UK economy. Report No. Final. Title: Valuing the Deep: Marine Genetic Resources in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. Project Code: MB0128 Defra Contract Manager: Carole Kelly, Marine Evidence Team Funded by: Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Marine Directorate Nobel House 17 Smith Square London SW1P 3JR Authorship: Paul Oldham (Lead Author), Stephen Hall, Colin Barnes, Catherine Oldham, Mark Cutter, Natasha Burns, Leonie Kindness Disclaimer: The content of this report does not necessarily reflect the views of Defra, nor is Defra liable for the accuracy of information provided, or responsible for any use of the reports content. 2 Acknowledgements. We thank Dr. Andreas Kroh and Dr. Sabine Stohr and the WoRMS Data Management Team for making the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) available for patent searches. We thank Dr. Maria Baker and the International Network for Scientific Investigation of the Deep-Sea (INDEEP) for their invaluable assistance in the realisation of the Valuing the Deep Delphi Study. We thank the Patent Landscaping Group at the WIPO Secretariat for providing WIPO patent data on PCT applications with sequence listings. We thank Dr. Marjo Vierros at United Nations University for providing access to personal research results that assisted with cross-checking computational approaches. Responsibility for the contents of this report and any errors or omissions rests entirely with the authors. Suggested Citation: Oldham, P; Hall, S; Barnes, C; Oldham, C; Cutter, AM; Burns, N; Kindness, L (2014) Valuing the Deep: Marine Genetic Resources in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. Defra Contract MB0128 Final Report Version One. London: Defra. 3 Glossary ABNJ Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. The term deep-sea is used in this report in place of this acronym and means the water column (the High Seas) and the seabed (the Area) in ABNJ as defined by UNCLOS. Abyssal Plain The vast flat sediment plains in the abyssal depths. Abyssopelagic (Abyssal) The deep open sea between 4000 m and 6000 m. AUV Autonomous Underwater Vehicle. Bathypelagic ‘The Midnight Zone’, the pelagic zone from 1000 m to 4000 m. Benthic The ecological zone of the seabed including sediments. Benthos The organisms living on and in the benthic habitat. Bioactive A substance that has an effect on living tissue. Biogeography The study of geographical distribution of species and ecosystems. Biomass The total weight of living organisms. CBD United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. CeDAMar Census of the Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life. Chemosynthetic The oxidation of inorganic molecules or methane as a source of energy, rather than sunlight. CIESM The Mediterranean Science Commission. Cold Seep An area where reduced sulfur and methane emerge unheated from the seafloor. Community All of the organisms sharing a given habitat. Cosmeceuticals Cosmetics with biologically active ingredients. Dense shelf water-cascading events When continental shelf waters, cooled by winter climate, become denser than surrounding ocean waters and flow downslope into the deep-sea. Delphi Study A structured series of questionnaires and consultation with experts. Ecology The study of relationships between organisms and their physical environment. EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone. 4 Epipelagic The layer of the ocean where enough sunlight reaches to enable photosynthesis. EMEA European Medicines Agency. EP European Patent Office patent publication under the European Patent Convention. Taken from the two level country code appearing at the beginning of a patent publication number. EPO European Patent Office. Eutrophication The nutrient over-enrichment of a waterbody. Family (patent) This refers to counts of the first filings or priority patent applications. This ensures that applications that are submitted in multiple countries are only counted once. We use the INPADOC system for linking patent family members to their parent or priority filing. Family Members Patent applications and grants published anywhere in the world that link back to the same first filing or priority application as their parent based on the INPADOC system. First Filing We use this term to describe the priority filing that forms the basis for a patent family. FDA United States Food and Drug Administration. GBIF Global Biodiversity Information Facility. GEBCO The General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans. GenBank National Institutes of Health Genetic Sequence Database. Georeferenced Biological record associated with geographic coordinates. Hadopelagic (Hadal) The pelagic zone of the deep trenches below about 6000 m. Hydrothermal Vent A seafloor vent emitting geothermally heated water. HOV Human Operated Vehicle. Infauna Animals which live in the seabed sediment. INPADOC International Patent Documentation Center. INPADOC established the widely used family linking system and is part of the European Patent Office. InterRidge Non-profit organisation promoting mid-ocean ridge research. 5 Kind codes These are two letter codes that describe the type of patent document and allow trends in applications and grants to be mapped. However, considerable care is required as the use of the same code may vary across patent offices and over the course of time. With the exception of US publications prior to 2001 we assume that kind code A means an application and kind code B means a patent grant. This provides an approximation of trends in applications and grants. We exclude administrative republications (i.e. A3) from trends analysis. Manganese Nodules Polymetallic nodules found scattered in fields on the Abyssal Plain. Marine Snow Organic matter descending through the water column. Mesopelagic ‘The Twilight Zone’ where sunlight can reach but not sufficiently strongly to allow photosynthesis (about 200 m-1000 m). Microbe Any microscopic organisms. MNP Marine Natural Product. MGR Marine Genetic Resource. MSR Marine Scientific Research. Mid Ocean Ridge Deep-sea mountain ranges formed by tectonic activity. Mid Water A loose term describing water well below the surface but not at the seabed, often used to describe trawling which is not bottom trawling. Mud Diapir Where mud in a cold seep environment is forced through the surrounding rocky material. Nutraceuticals A food product containing bioactive ingredients. OBIS Ocean Biogeographic Information System. OSPAR Convention Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic. Patent Publications Patent publications consist of publications of applications and grants and may also include administrative publications (corrections, search reports). Type of patent documents can be identified by ‘kind codes’ such as A1 or B1 but their use varies across patent offices. 6 PATSTAT The EPO World Patent Statistical Database published by the European Patent Office. The report used the October 2013 version of PATSTAT. PCT Refers to patent publications from the international Patent Cooperation Treaty administered by WIPO. Pelagic Any area of the water column away from the shore or the seabed. ROV Remote Operated Vehicle. Species Abundance The number of individual organisms in a given area. Species Richness The number of different species in a given area. UNCLOS The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Water Column An overview term incorporating all the different depth zones. US Mainly used to denote the country code for the United States as it appears in a patent publication number. USNSF United States National Science Foundation. Whale Fall The carcass of a whale which provides temporary nutrient hotspots. WIPO The World Intellectual Property Organization and administrator of the Patent Cooperation Treaty. WoRMS World Register of Marine Species. WoRDSS World Register of Deep-Sea Species. 7 Table of Contents Acknowledgements. 3 Glossary 4 List of Figures and Tables 10 Non-Technical Summary 12 Executive Summary 16 1. Introduction 26 2. Understanding the Deep-Sea 37 2.1 The Legal Context 37 2.2 Deep-Sea Habitats 39 2.3 Human Impacts on Deep-Sea Habitats 57 2.4 Conclusions 66 References 67 3. Deep-Sea Marine Scientific Literature 73 3.1 Introduction 73 3.2 Research Trends 73 3.3 Research Collaboration and Funding 77 3.4 Research Topics and Locations 80 3.5 Conclusions 83 4. Deep-Sea Species in the Patent System 85 4.1 Introduction 85 4.2 Methodology 87 4.3 Trends in Patent Activity 89 4.4 Identifying Species from the Deep-Sea 96 4.5 Sequence Data and New Species in Patent Data 104 4.6 Top Species 109 4.7 Countries 118 4.8 Technology Areas 121 4.9 UK Patent Activity 121 4.10 Conclusions 133 References 135 5. Origins and Sources 138 5.1 Introduction 138 5.2 Methodology 139 5.3 Mapping Places in the Scientific Literature and Patent Data 141 5.4 New Species and Strains in the Patent Data 145 5.5 Conclusions 147 References 149 6. The Value of Marine Genetic Resources 150 6.1 Introduction 150 8 6.2 Marine Biotechnology and Potential Value 154 6.3 From Potential to Actual Value 167 6.4 Conclusions 182 References 184 7. Valuing the Deep – Expert Perspectives 187 7.1 Introduction 187 7.2 Participation 189 7.3 Results 192 7.3.1