Marine Expert Statement Calling for a Pause to Deep-Sea Mining
Signed by 911 marine science & policy experts from over 70 countries
The deep sea is home to a significant proportion of Earth’s biodiversity, with most species yet to be discovered. The richness and diversity of organisms in the deep sea supports ecosystem processes necessary for the Earth’s natural systems to function. The deep ocean also constitutes more than 90% of the biosphere, and plays a key role in climate regulation, fisheries production, and elemental cycling. It is an integral part of the culture and well-being of local communities and the seafloor forms part of the common heritage of humankind. However, deep-sea ecosystems are currently under stress from a number of anthropogenic stressors including climate change, bottom trawling and pollution. Deep-sea mining would add to these stressors, resulting in the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning that would be irreversible on multi-generational timescales. Amongst the specific concerns over the impacts of deep-sea mining are:
the direct loss of unique and ecologically important species and populations as a result of the degradation, destruction or elimination of seafloor habitat, many before they have been discovered and understood;
the production of large, persistent sediment plumes that would affect seafloor and midwater species and ecosystems well beyond the actual mining sites;
the interruption of important ecological processes connecting midwater and benthic ecosystems;
the resuspension and release of sediment, metals and toxins into the water column, both from mining the seafloor and the discharge of mining wastewater from ships, detrimental to marine life including the potential for contamination of commercially important species of food fish such as tunas;
noise pollution arising from industrial machine activity on the ocean floor and the transport of ore slurries in pipes to the sea surface, that could cause physiological and behavioral stress to marine mammals and other marine species;
uncertain impacts on carbon sequestration dynamics and deep-ocean carbon storage.
There is a paucity of rigorous scientific information available concerning the biology, ecology and connectivity of deep-sea species and ecosystems, as well as the ecosystem services they provide. Without this information, the potential risks of deep-sea mining to deep-ocean biodiversity, ecosystems and functioning, as well as human well-being, cannot be fully understood. At the same time, a growing number of scientific reports (IPBES, IPCC, etc.) indicate that Earth's biodiversity is increasingly at risk of extinction.
For the reasons outlined above, we strongly recommend that the transition to the exploitation of mineral resources be paused until sufficient and robust scientific information has been obtained to make informed decisions as to whether deep-sea mining can be authorized without significant damage to the marine environment and, if so, under what conditions. The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) provides an opportune period in which to collect more information about the species and ecosystems that could be affected by deep-sea mining. As scientists, we deeply value evidence-based decision making, especially in instances as consequential as a global decision to open up an entirely new frontier of the ocean to large-scale industrial resource exploitation. The sheer importance of the ocean to our planet and people, and the risk of large-scale and permanent loss of biodiversity, ecosystems, and ecosystem functions, necessitates a pause of all efforts to begin mining of the deep sea, in line with the precautionary principle, and an acceleration of research so that we can gain a better understanding of what is at stake.
Statement signatories
Lucas A'Bear
Amin Abdallah
Dr. Juliano Palacios Abrantes
Dr. Mohamed Adel
Andreas Aditya Salim
Dr. Arturo Angulo Sibaja
Husamuddin Ahmadzai
Dr. Juan Jose Alava
Oscar Albornoz
Dr. Joan Alfaro
Krisha Algoso
Dr. Diva Amon
Dr. Margaret Amsler
Dr. Charles Amsler
Dr Jeremy Anbleyth-Evans
Dr. Jesper Andersen
Jada Tullos Anderson
Yochi Andrawina
Dr. Roberto Anitori
Diana Antochiw
Víctor Aramayo
Dr. Inés Aramendía
Gonzalo Araujo
Dr. Jeff Ardron
Homero Aridjis
Russell Arnott
Siti Indriasari Galuh Sekar Arum
Syd Ascione
Dr. Oliver Ashford
Victoria Assad
Dr. Trisha Atwood
Dr. Asta Audzijonyte
Dr. Steve Auscavitch
Dr. Peter J Auster
Dr. David Bailey
Dr. Maria Baker
Dr. Paul Baker
Carla Baleani
Jake Ballard
Dr. Peter Barnes
Kelsey Archer Barnhill
Tancrede Barraud
Dr. Thibaut Barreyre
Dr. Amanda Bates
Dr. Susanne Bauer
Chloé Baumas
Dr. Narissa Bax
Sarah Becker
Dr. Kristina Beck
Danielle Becker
Lara Beckmann
Dr. Awni Behnam
Dr. María Belén Alfonso
Charlotte Bellerjeau
Maximiliano Bello
Lila Ardor Bellucci
Sophie Benbow
Frida Bengtsson
Dr. Steven Benjamins
Dr. Elisa Berdalet
Jennifer Berglund
Dr. Melanie Bergmann
Franziska S. Bergmeier
Julio Bernal
Hannah Bernard
Daniela Bertotto
Tadzio Bervoets
Romy Betts
Dr. Christiane Biermann
Bailey Biggar
Dr. Holly Bik
Meri Bilan
William Birdsall
Giles Blackie
Dr. Robert Blasiak
Dr. Magdalena Błażewicz
Florence Blond
Dr. Joana Boavida
Dr. W.Frank Bohlen
Dr Monika Bohm
Dr. Kat Bolstad
Dr. Paulo Bonifácio
Dr. Michael Bonsall
Dr. Pablo Borboroglu
Dr. Cesar Bordehore
Natascha Borgstein
Dr. Angel Borja
Dr. Stephanie Borrelle
Catherine Borremans
Dr. Noelle Bowlin
Dr. Katlin Bowman
Tremaine Bowman
Dr. James Bradley
Clara Braña
Dr. Simone Nunes Brandao
Dr. Angelika Brandt
Dr. Miriam Brandt
Dr. Justin Brashares
Dr. Madeleine Brasier
Dr. María Emilia Bravo
William Brazelton
Dr. Daniel Breen
Dr. Corinna Breusing
Emmeline Broad
Dr. Deborah Bronk
Dr. Sandra Brooke
Dr. Claude De Broyer
Dr. Mercer Brugler
Otis Brunner
River Bryant
Dr. Pamela Buchan
Salome Buglass
Dr. Lene Buhl-Mortensen
Dr Nancy Bunbury
Dr.Dennis Bunke
Valerie Burgener
Dr. Julian Burgos
Dr. Stephanie Bush
Michael J. A. Butler
Paul Butler
Scott Butler
Candy Byrom
Wilfred Calder-Potts
Lic. Sergio Cambronero Solano
Dr. Christopher Cameron
Andy Cameron
Dr. Neus Campanyà-Llovet
Dr. Mike Camplin
Ana Campoy
Alessandra Cani
Dr. Mathilde Cannat
Sara Cannon
Catia Canteiro
Dr. Rigoberto Carbajal-Valdez
Juan Carlos Cardenas
Dr. Anais Cario
Gabrielle Carmine
Dr. Bethanie Carney Almroth
Jane Carrick
Amber Carter
Deb Castellana
Adrian Castillo
Dr. Patricia Castillo-Briceno
Dr. Peter Castro
Mariano Castro
Dr. Teresa Cerqueira
Dr. Florencia Cerutti
Ruperto Chaparro
Dr. Abbie Chapman
Natasha Chapplow
Alexis Chappuis
Alisha Chauhan
Dr. Chong Chen
Mathieu Chevalier
Ruth Chigbo
Dr. Giovanni Chimienti
Dr. Andrew Chin
Caroline Chin
Dr. Anela Choy
Dr. Lionel Christiaen
Dr. Patrick Christie
Daisy Chung
Tyler-Rae Chung
Gabriella Church
Alessia Ciraolo
Dr. Giuseppe Civitarese
Nichola Clark
Dr. Trevor Clarke
Dr. Matthew Clarkson
Dr. Joachim Claudet
Jason Cleland
Mary Clinton
Dr. Giovanni Coco
Dr. Stephen Cody
Sara Cognuck González
Dr. Sarah Cohen
Dennis Conetta
Dr. David Cooper
Dr. Erik Cordes
Dr. Jorge Cortés
André Costa
Dr. Fay Couceiro
Tanya Cox
Chestina Craig
Dr. Jessica Cramp
Dr. Simon Cripps
Dr. Emma Critchley
Dr. Fabio Crocetta
Dr. Katy Croff Bell
Dr. Peter Croot
Danielle Crowley
Brittany Cummings
Dr. Marina R. Cunha
Emily Cunningham
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Bronwen Currie
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Dr. Daphne Cuvelier
J Cybulski
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Dr. Detlef Czybulka
Michelle Dan
Dr. Paul Dando
Rebecca Daniel
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Kimberly Davies
Megan Davies
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Chuck Davis
Thalia Day
Isabel De Block
Alain de Comarmond
Dr. Asha de Vos
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Dr. Stacey DeAmicis
Aiko Love del Rosario
Dr. Bruno Delesalle
Fernando Delgado Huechepan
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Ombretta Dell'Acqua
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Elena Desiderà
Christopher Devaney
Dr. Lyndon DeVantier
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Dr. Steven D'Hondt
Elmer Diaz
Dr. Omar Diaz
Christian M Diaz Sanchez
Dr. Lawrence Dill
Grete Elisabeth Dinesen
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Dr. Tara Dolan
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Rachel Downey
Ulrike Drähne
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Maria Duperron
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Carolina Duque
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Anna Effinger
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Sonigitu Asibong Ekpe
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Rebecca Evans
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Ben Farmer
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Aria Finkelstein
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Sarah Foster
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Chloe Game
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Sara García-Morales
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Heidi Gartner
Ryan Gasbarro
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Gayathra Charuka Bandara Aldeniyagoda Gedara
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Steve Gerber
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Valentin Geslin
Gurveena Ghataure
Matthew Gianni
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Kristina Gjerde
Raoul Glass
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Lucy Goodwin
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Hugh Govan
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Dr Huw Griffiths
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Britt Henke
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Peer-review journal resources
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IUCN Deep seabed mining report, 2018 https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/47761
Miller et al., 2018. An Overview of Seabed Mining Including the Current State of Development, Environmental Impacts, and Knowledge Gaps https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2017.00418/full
Niner et al., 2018. Deep-Sea Mining With No Net Loss of Biodiversity—An Impossible Aim https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2018.00053/full
Van Dover et al., 2017. Biodiversity loss from deep-sea mining https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo2983
Levin et al., 2016. Defining “serious harm” to the marine environment in the context of deep-seabed mining https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X1630495X?via%3Dihub
Wedding et al., 2015. Managing mining of the deep seabed https://science.sciencemag.org/content/349/6244/144.summary
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