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IMO: Large-scale Ocean Fertilization Not Justified
Parties to the international treaties which regulate the dumping of wastes and other matter at sea, say that planned operations for large-scale fertilization of the oceans using micro-nutrients - for example, iron - to sequester carbon dioxide (CO2), are currently not justified. The Contracting Parties to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, 1972 (London Convention) and to the 1996 Protocol thereto (London Protocol), meeting in London from 5 to 9 November, 2007 (LC29/LP2), considered a report from their scientific advisers and other submissions relating to fertilization of the oceans to sequester CO2, using iron and other micro-nutrients. Recognizing that it is within the purview of each State to consider proposals on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with the London Convention and London Protocol (LC/LP, the meeting urged States to use the utmost caution when considering proposals for largescale ocean fertilization operations. "The meeting takes the view that, given the present state of knowledge regarding ocean fertilization, such large-scale operations are currently not justified." The meeting endorsed the "Statement of Concern" on large-scale fertilization agreed by the LC and LP Scientific Groups, in June 2007, which indicated that knowledge about the effectiveness and potential environmental impacts of ocean iron fertilization was currently insufficient to justify large-scale operations and that this could have negative impacts on the marine environment and human health. The meeting agreed that the consideration of ocean fertilization
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falls under the competences of the London Convention and Protocol, in particular, in relation to their objective to protect the marine environment from all sources. The meeting agreed to further study the issue from scientific and legal perspectives, with a view to its regulation.
Trawling Leave Lasting Scars on Deep Sea Coral
More than a decade after fishing stopped near the Corner Rise Seamounts in the North Atlantic, researchers have found that the seafloor still has patches that are almost completely devoid of life. During an expedition to study deep-sea corals, a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) research team led by biologist Rhian Waller found that several coral communities were extensively damaged, with evidence that the scars were caused by fishing trawlers. Corner Rise is a cluster of ancient volcanoes at least a half-mile below the sea surface and 1,200 miles from shore. Using a remotely operated vehicle to survey the volcanic slopes, the research team found broken ranches of bubble gum corals, which usually grow in abundance atop seamounts. The entire top of Kükenthal Peak was wiped clean; on Yakutat Seamount, "the number of live corals was negligible." Though fishing stopped many years ago, the summits "no longer support habitat-forming corals in any significant numbers," the biologists wrote in the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. As fishing grounds close to shore become over-fished and increasingly regulated, deep-sea habitats in unregulated waters have become more appealing for fishing fleets.
Marine Technology Reporter 17
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