Jeff Ardron

A Call for Deep-Ocean Stewardship

The precautionary approach and collaborative governance must balance deep-ocean use and protection. Covering more than half the planet, the deep ocean sequesters atmospheric CO2 and recycles major nutrients; is predicted to hold millions of yet-to-be-described species; and stores mind-boggling quantities of untapped energy resources, precious metals, and minerals (1). It is an immense, remote biome, critical to the health of the planet and human well-being. The deep ocean (defined here as below a typical continental shelf break, >200 m) faces mounting challenges as technological advances—including robotics, imaging, and structural engineering—greatly improve access. We recommend a move from a frontier mentality of exploitation and single-sector management to a precautionary system that balances use of living marine resources, energy, and minerals from the deep ocean with maintenance of a productive and healthy marine environment, while improving knowledge and collaboration.

Deep-Sea Mining With No Net Loss of Biodiversity—An Impossible Aim

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Corrigendum: Deep-Sea Mining With No Net Loss of Biodiversity—An Impossible Aim

Department of Engineering, University College London, Adelaide, SA, Australia, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, United Kingdom, Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, 4 Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología-CU, Biodiversidad y Macroecologia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico, Deep-Sea Conservation Coalition, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Macquarie Law School and Macquarie Marine Research Centre, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia, Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation and Integrative Oceanography Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States, Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States, Ocean Governance, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Potsdam, Germany, Division of Marine Science and Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Beaufort, NC, United States, Department of Biology, University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States, 12 IUCN Marine and Polar Programme, Cambridge, MA, United States