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Delving Deeper: Critical Challenges for 21St Century Deep-Sea Research

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Delving Deeper: Critical Challenges for 21St Century Deep-Sea Research EUROPEAN MARINE BOARD Delving Deeper Critical challenges for 21st century deep-sea research Position Paper 22 Wandelaarkaai 7 I 8400 Ostend I Belgium Tel.: +32(0)59 34 01 63 I Fax: +32(0)59 34 01 65 E-mail: [email protected] www.marineboard.eu www.marineboard.eu European Marine Board The Marine Board provides a pan-European platform for its member organizations to develop common priorities, to advance marine research, and to bridge the gap between science and policy in order to meet future marine science challenges and opportunities. The Marine Board was established in 1995 to facilitate enhanced cooperation between European marine science organizations towards the development of a common vision on the research priorities and strategies for marine science in Europe. Members are either major national marine or oceanographic institutes, research funding agencies, or national consortia of universities with a strong marine research focus. In 2015, the Marine Board represents 36 Member Organizations from 19 countries. The Board provides the essential components for transferring knowledge for leadership in marine research in Europe. Adopting a strategic role, the Marine Board serves its member organizations by providing a forum within which marine research policy advice to national agencies and to the European Commission is developed, with the objective of promoting the establishment of the European marine Research Area. www.marineboard.eu European Marine Board Member Organizations UNIVERSITÉS MARINES Irish Marine Universities National Research Council of Italy Consortium MASTS Delving Deeper: Critical challenges for 21st century deep-sea research European Marine Board Position Paper 22 This position paper is based on the activities of the European Marine Board Working Group Deep-Sea Research (WG Deep Sea) Coordinating author and WG Chair Alex D. Rogers Contributing Authors Alex D. Rogers, Andrew Brierley, Peter Croot, Marina R. Cunha, Roberto Danovaro, Colin Devey, Alf-Håkon Hoel, Henry A. Ruhl, Pierre-Marie Sarradin, Seline Trevisanut, Sybille van den Hove, Helena Vieira, Martin Visbeck Series Editor Niall McDonough Publication Editors Kate Larkin, Karen Donaldson and Niall McDonough External Reviewers Kristina Gjerde (Wycliffe Management, Poland) and Phil Weaver (Seascape Consultants Ltd, UK) Internal review process The content of this document has been subject to internal review, editorial support and approval by the European Marine Board Member Organizations (shown opposite). Additional contributions EurOcean, Antje Boetius, Emily Corcoran, Karen Donaldson, Matt Gianni, Mark Hannington, Tim Packeiser, Francisco Souza Dias, Torsten Thiele and Klaus Wallmann The European Marine Board extends thanks to the members of international deep-sea stakeholder community who contributed to this position paper, and in particular the investment study. Suggested reference Rogers, A.D., Brierley, A., Croot, P., Cunha, M.R., Danovaro, R., Devey, C., Hoel, A.H., Ruhl, H.A., Sarradin, P-M., Trevisanut, S., van den Hove, S., Vieira, H., Visbeck, M. (2015) Delving Deeper: Critical challenges for 21st century deep-sea research. Larkin, K.E., Donaldson, K. and McDonough, N. (Eds.) Position Paper 22 of the European Marine Board, Ostend, Belgium. 224 pp. ISBN 978-94-920431-1-5 www.marineboard.eu [email protected] Second edition, September 2015 Foreword For centuries humans have been crossing the ocean in search of resources and new lands to occupy. Long-distance mariners have a rare insight into the sheer scale of the ocean beyond the continental shelf, where the seabed falls away to depths measured in kilometres. There is no agreed definition of what constitutes the “deep sea”. If we define it as that part of the ocean below 200m in depth (i.e. beyond the penetration of natural light and the reach of humans without the use of submersible technology), then the deep sea covers about 65% of the earth’s surface and provides 95% of its bio- sphere. Its importance within the earth system as a regulator of climate and a provider of ecosystem goods and services cannot be overstated, although the nature and value of these benefits remain poorly understood. Arguably, we know more about the moon and Venus than the deep sea and spend considerably more on space exploration than on deep-sea research. It is imperative that we rectify this knowledge (and funding) deficit by moving beyond piecemeal and short-term scientific studies. In short, we must embark on a new era of exploration of the earth’s final frontier: the deep sea. Why now? Europe is a maritime continent and the EU Blue Growth strategy, launched in 2012, aims to expand our maritime economy, creating 1.6 million new jobs by 2020. Until now, human maritime activities such as fisheries, aquaculture, oil and gas production, aggregate extraction, and recreation and tourism have largely been conducted in coastal and shallow shelf seas. However, there has been a rapid development in interest in accessing ocean resources in deeper waters beyond the continental shelf. Commercial inter- ests include deep-sea mining (mining the ocean floor for valuable minerals and rare earth elements), deep-sea oil and gas production, and deep-sea fisheries. There is also interest in using organisms found in extreme deep-sea environments as a source of interesting bioactive compounds which could be used to generate new drugs, nutraceuticals and industrial products. While activities such as fishing, mining and oil and gas production in the deep sea are becoming technically and economically feasi- ble, they remain highly contentious. Many believe that the potential risks and environmental impacts associated with such activities in the deep sea are too great. We also lack adequate legal and policy frameworks to regulate access to and utilization of deep-sea resources - both living and non-living - in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) and international discussions on these issues are currently ongoing in the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). What is clear is that technol- ogy development and commercial interest is moving at a pace that outstrips the ocean governance discussions and the generation of new knowledge through scientific research. If commercial activities are to proceed, it is imperative that we develop a much greater knowledge and understanding of the deep sea. It is important to note that in producing a position paper that addresses deep-sea research explicitly, we are not advocating a reduc- tionist approach whereby the deep sea is studied in isolation from other parts of the ocean and earth system. Indeed, understanding the links between the deep ocean, shallow and coastal waters, the land and atmosphere is an important recommendation of this paper. Nonetheless, there are particular challenges to studying the deep sea that merit special attention. Deep-sea exploration is costly, requires extensive and long-term planning, and carries with it a greater level of risk. In addition, most of the deep sea falls out- side of national jurisdiction which presents legal and regulatory challenges. For these reasons, international cooperation is especially important in addressing deep-sea research and in deciding on appropriate management and governance frameworks for deep-sea resources. Industrial development in the deep sea will require advanced technologies and significant investment, the vast majority of which will come from private sources. Hence, an overarching recommendation of this position paper is that, to support Blue Growth, European public research funding should target fundamental scientific research on all components of the deep sea environment and the estab- lishment of environmental baselines. Where possible, this should be done in a time frame that will complement and keep track with industrial expansion in the deep sea. Key areas for public research investment include, inter alia, mapping deep-sea terrain and habi- tats; studying deep-sea biodiversity; understanding deep-sea ecosystem functioning, connectivity and resilience; developing sustained deep-sea observing systems; identifying appropriate indicators and targets for environmental health in the deep sea; and developing innovative governance frameworks to ensure efficiency, transparency and fairness in accessing, utilizing and deriving benefits from deep-sea resources. On behalf of the EMB membership, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the deep-sea working group experts for their dedica- tion and hard work in producing this detailed paper. Particular thanks must go to Professor Alex Rogers, Chair of the working group. It is a well-worn adage that if you want to get something done, ask a busy person. This is notably true in Alex’s case. He has worked tirelessly and always in good spirit to guide the process at all stages, despite his numerous other committments. My thanks also to the EMB Secretariat, in particular to Niall McDonough, Kate Larkin and Karen Donaldson, who worked continuously behind the scenes to support the work of the group and the finalization of the paper. I sincerely hope that this paper will provide the basis for a new im- petus in European deep-sea research and a guide to funders and decision makers on the most pressing deep-sea research challenges. Jan Mees Chair, European Marine Board Table of contents Foreword 2 Executive Summary 6 1. Introduction 8 1.1 The deep sea 9 1.2 The knowledge deficit 14 1.2.1 Our inner planet 14 1.2.2 Deep-sea ecosystems and connectivity 14
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