We may not know much about the deep sea, but do we care about mining it?

Kaikkonen, Laura; Putten, Ingrid van

doi:10.1002/pan3.10224

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 133 publications

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“…Remote oceanic regions are often portrayed as isolated and unknown, attributes that can 'devalue' the natural capital of ABNJ and facilitate their exploitation through a minimisation of societal oversight or interest (Jamieson et al, 2020;Kaikkonen and van Putten, 2021;Morais et al, 2022). The framework presented provides an easily interpretable visual demonstration of the relationships via which natural capital of ABNJ supports human wellbeing and the pressure pathways that set these benefits at risk and ultimately challenge misconceptions related to their (lack of) importance .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A risk assessment for the remote ocean: the case of the South East Atlantic

Niner,

Rees,

La Bianca

et al. 2024

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Degradation of the natural world and associated ecosystem services is attributed to a historical failure to include its ‘value’ in decision-making. Uncertainty in the quantification of the relationship between natural capital ‘assets’ that give rise to critical societal benefits and people is one reason for the omission of these values from natural resource management. As this uncertainty increases in marine systems and further still with distance from the coast, the connection between society and natural capital assets is less likely to be included adequately in decision-making. Natural capital assets of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ), including those of the deep sea, are distant but are known to generate many benefits for society, from the diffuse and broad-scale benefits of climate regulation to the provision of wild fish for food. While our understanding of the precise relationships (the status of asset stocks, ecosystem functions and processes) that control the availability of ecosystem services and the flows of benefits is limited, this does not preclude opening a discourse on how these natural capital assets could best be managed to continue to benefit society. Here we apply a natural capital approach to the South East Atlantic ABNJ, one of the least scientifically understood regions of the planet, and develop a framework for risk assessment. We do this by describing the benefit flows from the natural capital assets of the region, appraising how activities are creating pressures on these flows and whether the controls for these pressures protect them. Our risk register highlights how governance currently favours the protection of direct (extractive) benefit flows from natural capital assets of the region, which are primarily targeted for financial benefit. Without a systems-based framework that can account for the cumulative pressures on natural capital assets their status, associated ecosystem services and benefits are at risk. Such an approach is essential to capture and protect the foundational and often diffuse connections between marine natural capital and global society.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A risk assessment for the remote ocean: the case of the South East Atlantic

Niner,

Rees,

La Bianca

et al. 2024

Front. Mar. Sci.

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“…Furthermore, deep-sea mining may impact the mesopelagic zone 33,34 but this is not detected by the topic model of both scientific abstracts and tweets. While some have researched public perceptions about the deep sea 35 , considered what new institutional arrangements may be required for the mesopelagic zone 36 and the high seas 27,37 , and have called for particular modes of governance in both scientific journals 38 and public-facing threads on Twitter 39 , keywords indicating political and social research are absent from the topic model. Similarly, since the end of 2020 the interest in the deep ocean has continued to accelerate, with deepsea exploration activities being endorsed by the UN Ocean Decade in late 2021 40 , the treaty negotiations for Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction set to resume their fifth session in March 2023 41 , and the International Seabed Authority continuing to work towards binding regulations for deep-sea mining 42 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These results indicate a need to reconsider natural science's de facto governing role in the deep sea. Instead of only relying on science to anticipate a narrow set of use-based narratives, such as fisheries and carbon sequestration, decision-making about the mesopelagic zone would benefit from enhanced transdisciplinary forms of knowledge that broaden our understanding (and imagination) of the mesopelagic zone by engaging diverse groups including marine industries, policy makers at national and international levels, non-government organisations, activists, artists and the general public 35,[45][46][47] . While some international science projects [48][49][50] , organisations 51 and declarations 52,53 aspire to and/or support stakeholder engagement, they tend to reinforce science-and state-led framing of the mesopelagic zone, rather than opening up to different forms of knowledge and values associated with the deep sea.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science governs the future of the mesopelagic zone

et al. 2023

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The potential of the mesopelagic zone (200–1000 m depth) to provide natural resources and ecosystem services is of increasing interest to a broad range of societal stakeholders. As this interest grows, divergent ideas about its current and future role in supporting human life are being expressed in scientific and public discourse. We use automated content analysis to identify 13 key topics about the mesopelagic zone from 2226 scientific abstracts and 4066 tweets. Two dominant ideas emerge: (1) the exploitation of fish resources and (2) the role of the mesopelagic zone as a carbon sink. We find that, in the absence of significant mesopelagic zone policy, science plays a de facto governing role by shaping how the ecosystem is known to the public and policymakers alike. These results indicate the need and potential for new knowledge and governance arrangements that can broaden the range of meanings and knowledge needed to anticipate future uses of deeply uncertain ecosystems and resources.

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“…These results indicate a need to reconsider natural science's de facto governing role in the deep sea. Instead of only relying on science to anticipate a narrow set of use-based narratives, such as sheries and carbon sequestration, decision-making about the mesopelagic zone would bene t from transdisciplinary forms of knowledge that broaden our understanding (and imagination) of the mesopelagic zone by engaging diverse groups including marine industries, policy makers at national and international levels, non-government organizations, activists, artists and the general public [33][34][35][36] . Such a democratization of knowledge would not negate the role of fundamental science as a crucial way of classifying and quantifying the mesopelagic zone.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science governs the future of the mesopelagic zone

Schadeberg

Kraan

Groeneveld

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Scientists have studied the open ocean’s mesopelagic zone, extending from 200m-1000m depth, for more than 70 years. As renewed interest in this global ecosystem grows, divergent proposals and knowledge claims are being made on its current and future role in supporting human life. We use automated content analysis to identify 13 latent topics about the mesopelagic zone from 2,226 scientific abstracts and 4,066 tweets. Two dominant ideas emerge: (1) the exploitation of fish resources and (2) the potential of the mesopelagic zone as a carbon sink. We find that, in the absence of national or international governing institutions, science plays a de facto governing role by shaping how the ecosystem is known to the public and policymakers alike. These results indicate the need for new knowledge and governance arrangements that can broaden the range of meanings and knowledge needed to anticipate future uses of deeply uncertain ecosystems and resources.

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We may not know much about the deep sea, but do we care about mining it?

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 12 publications

References 133 publications

A risk assessment for the remote ocean: the case of the South East Atlantic

A risk assessment for the remote ocean: the case of the South East Atlantic

Science governs the future of the mesopelagic zone

Science governs the future of the mesopelagic zone

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