Environment: A call for global strategy for deep-sea activities

A global strategy for deep-sea activities to preserve the marine environment, also with the creation of a dedicated international body regulating the monitoring of deep-sea ecosystems still largely unknown. This is the proposal contained in the study conducted by an international team of scientists, including Emanuela Fanelli of ENEA, “An ecosystem-based deep-ocean strategy”, which appeared in the scientific journal Science.

“The deep ocean, i.e. 200 m below sea level, encompasses 95% of the ocean’s volume and is the largest and least explored biome of the biosphere” Emanuela Fanelli at the ENEA Department of Sustainability of Productive and Territorial Systems, pointed out. New ecosystems and species are being continually discovered in the deep ocean -she said- it’s enough to think that in deep hydrothermal sources a new marine species is discovered every week. In these environments, most of the species have long turn-over times, a very slow growth and very low recovery levels, making the ecosystems extremely vulnerable to the anthropic impact”.

The study is based on the observation of a legislative gap regarding the deep ocean and the lack of a dedicated unitary body regulating criteria, indicators and methods for monitoring deep-ocean environments at the ecosystem level. Currently, in fact, there exist only regulatory bodies dealing with the licenses for hydrocarbon and mineral extraction in the areas outside national jurisdiction (ISA-International Seabed Authority) and deep-ocean fishing at the regional level (FAO Organizations such as GFCM, General Fishing Commission for the Mediterranean).

The growing interest in minerals and new sources of chemicals in the oceans, as well as fishing species or molecules for nutraceutical or cosmetic use, has caused global concern on the potential impact of deep-sea mining, possibly causing significant environmental damage or even disrupting unknown environments, like the coral reefs in the North Sea, which are being severely damaged by fishing trawlers”, the ENEA researcher concluded.

The research is part of a wider context of studies and activities conducted at ENEA with the purpose of defining global change scenarios, identifying criteria for a sustainable management of resources and conservation of ecosystems.

With the same objectives, ENEA is part of the project IDEM (Implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive to the Deep Mediterranenan Sea), coordinated by the Marche Polytechnic University and financed by the Directorate General Environment of the European Commission, which aims at the definition of new indicators and the development of an assessment system of the Mediterranean, in line with the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

For more information please contact:

Emanuela Fanelli – ENEA, Department of Sustainability of Productive and Territorial Systems - emanuela.fanelli@enea.it

The full article is available at: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/355/6324/452