The current status of environmental requirements for deep seabed mining issued by the International Seabed Authority. (April 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bräger, Stefan; Romero Rodriguez, Gabriela Q.; Mulsow, Sandor
• Is Part Of: Marine policy. Volume 114(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-04
• Subjects: Area-based management tools -- Environmental baseline studies -- ISA -- Pelagic domain -- Spatio-temporal -- Species-specificity -- Statistical power -- Toxicology; Marine resources -- Economic aspects -- Periodicals; Fisheries -- Periodicals; Ressources marines -- Aspect économique -- Périodiques; Pêches -- Périodiques; Fisheries; Marine resources -- Economic aspects; Periodicals; 333.916405
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2018.09.003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0308-597X

Abstract

Abstract: Up to September 2018, the International Seabed Authority has issued a total of 100 mandatory requirements (published between 2011 and 2015) as guidance for potential future miners when collecting data for their environmental baseline studies during the exploration phase. An in-depth analysis of all current requirements highlights twelve themes covered by multiple requirements: methodology for seabed sampling, methodology for water column sampling, statistical evidence, spatio-temporal considerations, toxicology, modelling needs, genetic studies, species-specificity, documentation and archival storage, impact-related studies, area-based management tools, and comparison and assessment. Within each theme, the relevant requirements are compared with each other to allow a comprehensive assessment of the research effort needed to satisfy all of the 100 requirements. Highlights: 100 regulations define environmental baseline studies by each contractor under ISA exploration contract. We present 12 cross-cutting themes for a regulatory roadmap set out by UNCLOS and substantiated by LTC guidance. Each theme calls for a critical review of the baseline work carried out during 15 years of exploration. A poor baseline may cause a suboptimal EIA providing weak support for a mining permit.