The crafting of seabed mining ecosystem-based management yves henocque

Abstract

Deep-sea environments are faced with cumulative effects of many human activities, e.g. waste deposition, oil exploitation, fishing, maritime transport, and potential seabed mining. The ecosystem approach requires that we look at the cumulate impacts of all these pressures on each specific habitat and living community. Therefore, deep seabed ecosystem-based management should be considered in relation with the varied governance and management regimes from the coast to international waters, in a regional context. Many frameworks and instruments already exist, but they are fragmented, while the ocean and its resources is a totally interconnected system without borders. Within EEZ as well as international waters, new thinking is required about the way governance and management should be applied through a polycentric-like approach articulating existing agreements and their implementation framework from local to global level. Along Aichi Target 11, ecologically and biologically significant areas (EBSAs), coastal, and very large marine protected areas (MPAs) might be used as the first elements of a comprehensive 3D-dimension regional network of area-based managed units with a 100% coverage including varied levels of biodiversity conservation and sustained supply of ecosystem services on which people and maritime activities development depend.