Meeting of States Parties

to Law of Sea Convention

68^th Meeting (AM)

STATES PARTIES TO LAW OF SEA CONVENTION BRIEFED ON DEEP SEABED MINING

PROSPECTS BY EXPERT PANEL FROM INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY

Director of Seafarer’s Rights Centre Also Addresses Meeting

The States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea were briefed this morning on the prospects for mining mineral resources from the deep seabed and biodiversity on the ocean floor by a panel of experts from the International Seabed Authority. 

With the help of vivid slide presentations, the panel -- three technical researchers and scientific experts in marine biology -- discussed seabed minerals, the ecosystems in which they were found, and identified cutting-edge technologies with which those minerals could be harvested in an ecologically sound manner.  The presentations progressed from a depiction of the ancient seafloor through modern seabed geology, to the impact of deep sea mining on undersea ecosystems.

Introducing the biologists, the Secretary-General of the Authority, Satya Nandan, stressed the importance of using such interactive forums and video presentations to close the knowledge gap between such technical experts and the wider international community.  As a repository of data and information on mineral resources and deep sea ecosystems, it was up to the Authority to guide States as they debated international seabed regulations.

Peter Rona, of Rutgers University, noted that a scientific revolution had occurred since the Convention had been drawn up.  Before that revolution, ocean basins were viewed as passive containers that were permanent features of the earth.  The only mineral resources from the ocean that were recognized in the Convention were those that had eroded from continents.  Those minerals that had accumulated in sediments were largely unexploited.  The largest industry was diamonds off the shores of Namibia and South Africa, and there had been some preliminary work on gold and tin deposits.

After the scientific revolution, it was discovered that basins were constantly changing and opened and closed, thus allowing their contents to move in the continental drift.  The basins were active sources of new minerals and living resources -- not passive containers, but "leaky containers" -- and indeed some of the largest geographic centres on earth.  Though they were largely out of sight, those basins held large concentration of mineral resources.  The largest was in the Red Sea, where Africa was rifting apart from Saudi Arabia.

Peter Herzig, of Freiberg University of Mining and Technology in Germany, next discussed seafloor massive sulfides.  He gave a brief overview of how the deposits were formed, noting that components combined at the sea floor to form minerals that also included trace amounts of gold and silver.  Massive sulfide deposits were in several oceanic regions, including the mid-Atlantic rift, which was one of the largest.

Massive sulfide deposits on land were ancient analogues of those seen in the ocean today.  Gold, a valuable by-product of deposits on land, should also be present on the sea floor.  Ocean drilling programmes had provided information about the dimensions of sulfide deposits.  He also noted that several requirements must be met for future seabed exploration and mining.  Those included chemical analyses of samples to establish reliable metal grades, environmental impact studies, the development and testing of suitable mining techniques, and a system providing the continuous flow of sulfide cuttings.

Kim Juniper, a marine biologist from the University of Quebec in Montreal, presented a detailed overview of the deep sea hot spring environments -- hydrothermal vent ecosystems -- which discoveries during the last two decades had revealed to contain a wealth of biological life that had been completely unexpected.  Indeed, the flora and fauna that appeared to thrive in the springs did not draw their energy from the sun, like land organisms, but from volcanoes.  Research on the springs had significantly influenced scientific theory about the origin of life and even deep space exploration.

Since 60 per cent of the planet -- covered by water as it was -- could be characterized by the sparse vegetation and meagre animal life of the ocean floor, it had been shocking to find such an abundance of biomass and specialized creatures clustered around deep sea hot springs.  He said almost every exploration of the deep sea floor uncovered new species.  At last count, some 500 animal species had been identified living around hydrothermal vents.  What was interesting was that 90 per cent of those were found nowhere else in the world.

He described the special adaptations of these unique animals -- including tubeworms, spider-crabs and micro-organisms -- that lived off gases that were poisonous to most other creatures on Earth.  When he turned to the issue of protecting the diversity of those species, he echoed the sentiments of the other panelists by stressing that preservation of the unique gene pools was essential.  At the same time, comprehensive studies on all the creatures and plant life that lived near inactive hyrodthermal vents would also be necessary.

When the floor was opened for discussion, Mr. Juniper said that the research community should also be aware of the ecological impact of the “sea dust” that might be dredged up from mining activities.  Another important issue, he said, was that some of the sites were tens of thousands of years old.  The longer-active sites would accumulate the largest deposits of minerals and generate more commercial interest.  Understandably, those sites would also support the greatest levels of biodiversity and therefore needed unique protection efforts.  He added that it would also be crucial to determine if such sites could be successfully re-colonized by animal and plant life following mining expeditions.

Mr. Rona said that the age of ocean exploration was only just beginning.  He suggested that there was now a widespread feeling that world governments set aside

a disproportionate amount of funding for space exploration –- an investment which, so far, had produced very little tangible return for human beings.  Perhaps some of those resources could be diverted to ocean exploration that would yield substantial quality of life improvements.

Following today’s presentation, Douglas Stevenson, Director, Centre for Seafarer's Rights of the Seamen's Church Institute, spoke to the States Parties about the unreasonable financial burdens some States placed on ships that helped persons in distress at sea.  Those States either refused the stranded individuals entry or forced the rescuers to feed, house and repatriate them.  Such burdens discouraged ship owners from complying with their moral and legal obligation to rescue persons at sea.

Mr. Stevenson also noted that a fragmented fishing industry, coupled with a lack of political will, had resulted in few national or international fishing vessel safety regulations.  Either fisheries' interests were underrepresented in regulatory body meetings, or competing sectors of the fishing industry simply expressed their distaste for regulations, rather than on any safety standards.  Meanwhile, men and women working on fishing vessels continued to be maimed and killed at alarming rates.

When mariners' health, safety or welfare was in jeopardy, the Institute looked to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to protect those people.  He urged all States using the oceans to adopt the Convention's rules and those not parties to the Convention to ratify and implement it.

The Authority was established by the 1982 Convention and its role was further refined by the 1994 Agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI (seabed provisions) of that treaty.  The 132-member Authority is tasked with the organization and control of activities in the international seabed area, where international jurisdiction does not extend.

The States Members of the Convention will meet again at 3 p.m. this afternoon to take up matters related to the scale of assessments and currency of reference for the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

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