standardization of environmental data and information - International ...

In accordance with these mandates, the Commission approved in
April 2001 an initial set of recommendations to guide contractors in
assessing environmental impacts 3 . In preparing these recommendations, it
was assisted in part by guidelines drawn up by a workshop convened by the
Authority in Sanya, China, in 1998 4 . Following the 2001 Workshop, the
Commission approved a revised draft of its recommendations, which are
awaiting action by the Council of the Authority in August 2002 5 .
Contents of the proceedings
Part 1 of these proceedings sets out the legal and organizational
framework for deep-sea environmental monitoring, summarizing the
manner in which the Authority is to control prospecting, exploration and
exploitation for nodules, with special reference to the regulations it adopted
in 2000. Also included is a paper by Dr. Craig R. Smith, moderator of the
Workshop, describing what is known and identifying what is not known
about the nodule-bearing areas.
Part 2 includes information from scientists of six entities that have
received the Authority’s approval to enter into exploration contracts, as well
as ocean researchers from other countries. They describe what they have
done and some of the procedures they have followed while investigating
environmental conditions in and around the seabed areas of interest to
nodule prospectors in the Pacific and Indian oceans. The scientists came
from China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russian
Federation and the United States.
Part 3 outlines some of the standards and techniques employed in
research into individual sectors of the deep-sea environment: chemistry,
sediment, biodiversity, seafloor fauna and the pelagic community in the
water column. Most of the presenters emphasized that research into the
difficult-to-reach ocean depths is still in its early stages and would benefit
from improved standardization of methods.
Part 4 looks at designs for environmental sampling to ensure
statistically valid results, and for a computerized database where the
results of monitoring can be brought together, compared and made
generally available. Also included are a paper and a discussion on
standardization strategies.
The recommendations of the Workshop are set out in four reports,
making up part 5. In addition to the overall report, there are reports from
INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY 15