Presentation of legislation/regulation developments for deep-sea fisheries

There have been a number of developments in deep-sea conservation in the North Atlantic over the past year relevant to the ATLAS Project. These include the adoption of a new EU regulation, in the context of the EU’s reformed Common Fisheries Policy, for the management of deep-sea fisheries in EU waters and the designation of large areas of the deep-sea within Canadian and US waters as closed to bottom fisheries or as marine sanctuaries to protect deep-sea habitats. The Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization and the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission – the two regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) regulating deep-sea fishing on the high seas of the north Atlantic have established procedures for ongoing scientific review and consideration of new regulations to address the environmental impacts of deep-sea fisheries. A third RFMO, the General Fisheries Commission of the Mediterranean has recently begun doing the same.  The UN General Assembly in November 2016 conducted a ten-year review of the actions taken by States and RFMOs to manage deep-sea fisheries to protect deep-sea ecosystems and called for a new set of actions including enhanced marine scientific research in a resolution adopted by the General Assembly in December 2016.

In relation to deep-sea mining, the UN’s International Seabed Authority (ISA) is in the process of developing environmental regulations for the licensing of commercial seabed mining. Much of the discussion surrounding the development of the regulations centres on the role of science, scientific review and evaluation and incorporating scientific uncertainty in the regulatory process. In addition, a science based initiative to develop a proposal for an ISA regional environment management plan (EMP) for the mining of seabed massive sulphides associated with both active and inactive hydrothermal vents along a portion of the northern Mid Atlantic Ridge has been underway for the past two years with a view to prompting a formal process of negotiation by the ISA to develop and establish an EMP for the region. The presentation will cover these and other initiatives, including brief mention of the negotiations currently taking place under the auspices of the UN General Assembly to develop a new treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, and the opportunities for the ATLAS Project to provide scientific information, advice and recommendations relevant to these processes.