DSCC’S 2020 ANNUAL REPORT

16 April, 2021

The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition’s (DSCC) 2020 Report informs on Fisheries, Deep Seabed Mining and Ocean Governance.

DSCC’s Letters to the International Seabed Authority | 2020

20 January, 2021

1 December, 2020 – Letter to the President of the Council on Blue Minerals Jamaica Ltd. Application

24 November 2020 – Letters to the ISA on the Silence Procedure

23 November 2020 – Letter to the Secretary-General on Tonga Offshore Mining Ltd Acquisition by DeepGreen Metals Inc.

6 October 2020 – Letter the Finance Committee on ISA Proposal to Charge Observer Fees

22 September 2020 – Letter to the Acting President of the Council on Observers and the Silence Procedure

5 June 2020 – Letter to the Secretary General on ISA Webinars, Transparency and Observer Participation

22 May 2020 – Letter to the Secretary General on India Environmental Impact Assessment Process

Public participation in the context of deep sea mining: Luxury or legal obligation?

20 October, 2020

Willaert, Klaas. “Public participation in the context of deep sea mining: Luxury or legal obligation?.” Ocean & Coastal Management 198 (2020): 105368.

Beyond the boundaries of national jurisdiction, the ocean floor and its minerals are governed by a comprehensive international regime, which determines by whom and under what conditions these natural resources can be prospected, explored and exploited.  The main principles are set out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 1994 Implementation Agreement, while more detailed rules are included in specific regulations of the International Seabed Authority (ISA). The ISA has issued rules for the first phases of deep sea mining activities (prospecting and exploration), but has yet to adopt exploitation regulations. A draft version is however being developed and provides a good indication of the current state of play. With regard to transparency and public participation, significant improvements can be identified, but considering the influence of NGOs and their crucial role as watchdogs, the power of third-party stakeholders can still be deemed fairly limited. This article analyzes the existing principles and available options regarding transparency, public participation and access to justice in all phases of deep sea mining activities, identifies the main weaknesses and suggests possible corrections, all the while assessing whether such provisions should be considered a luxury or rather the implementation of an enforceable legal obligation.

 

Deep-sea Mining Factsheets

9 June, 2020

The deep sea is the largest biome on Earth. This mysterious and varied place makes up 90% of the marine environment and plays a vital role in regulating our planetary systems, not least by absorbing and storing vast quantities of the carbon dioxide emitted into the air by human activity.

Learn more:

‘Literature on Deep Sea Mining’ – Mendeley

8 May, 2018

Mendeley is a free reference manager and academic social network where you can organize your research, collaborate with others online, and discover the latest research. In Mendeley, you can also find scientific publications related to deep-sea mining by browsing in the ‘Literature on Deep Sea Mining’ Group, find the instructions to subscribe to the group here.

Biological responses to disturbance from simulated deep-sea polymetallic nodule mining

8 February, 2018

Commercial-scalemining for polymetallic nodules could have a major impact on the deep-sea environment, but the effects of these mining activities on deep-sea ecosystems are very poorly known. Here we evaluate changes in faunal densities and diversity of benthic communities in reponse to simulated or test nodule mining disturbances using meta-analysis techniques.

Authors: Daniel O. B. Jones, Stefanie Kaiser, Andrew K. Sweetman, Craig R. Smith, Lenaick Menot, Annemiek Vink, Dwight Trueblood, Jens Greinert, David S. M. Billett, Pedro Martinez Arbizu, Teresa Radziejewska, Ravail Singh, Baban Ingole, Tanja Stratmann, Erik Simon-Lledo, Jennifer M. Durden, Malcolm R. Clark.

Available in English.

 

An Overview of Seabed Mining Including the Current State of Development, Environmental Impacts, and Knowledge Gaps

10 January, 2018

Rising demand for minerals and metals, including for use in the technology sector, hasled to a resurgence of interest in exploration of mineral resources located on the seabed. Such resources cannot be considered in isolation of the distinctive, in some cases unique, assemblages of marine species associated with the same habitats and structures.

Available in English.

Declining oxygen in the global ocean and coastal waters

8 January, 2018

Oxygen concentrations inboth the open ocean and coastal waters havebeen declining since at least the middle of the20th century. This oxygen loss, or deoxygenation, is one of the most important changes occurring in an ocean increasingly modified by humanactivities that have raised temperatures, CO2 levels, and nutrient inputs and have altered the abundances and distributions of marine species.

Available in English.