Increasing pressure at the bottom of the ocean

Abstract

Invisibly hidden under the waters, the deep sea has been considered to be the least affected habitat on Earth by human use. However, recently, the perception of the damage and its extent are coming to light. The ocean is recognisably under threat due to a number of direct human activities, of which fishing industry and pollution are of major concern. Other emergent economic activities such as mining, the extraction of oil and gas, and the sequestration of CO2, should be evaluated beforehand to take into account the forecasting and mitigation of possible impacts. These human activities migrated to the deep-sea, fisheries and waste deposit first, followed by oil and mineral exploitation. This is reflected in the growing number of species and habitats requiring conservation actions and the need for new management instruments for the deep ocean. In particular one has to take into consideration that the majority of these habitats and associated species are located on the high seas where the capacity for intervention and the legal basis either do not exist or may fall far short of what is needed (Probert et al., Seamounts: ecology, fisheries and conservation, 2007).