standardization of environmental data and information - International ...

elieving that contractors should not be expected to provide much data
until they started to test mining equipment, thought that a special study
might be organized to gain a better understanding of the marine
environment. Matisoff responded that the purpose of monitoring was to
provide data that policy makers could use to decide whether intervention
was needed for the sake of oceanic health. The Secretary-General stated
that monitoring must begin right from the start of seabed activities, because
the data were needed to see what kind of harm was occurring and to what
extent.
Particular concern was voiced about the dangers of
bioaccumulation of heavy metals in fish consumed by humans, though
some participants doubted that mining would release significant quantities.
Dr. Craig R. Smith, Professor of Oceanography at the University of
Hawaii, Honolulu, proposed procedures for baseline monitoring of sediment
properties, particle flux (sedimentation) and bioturbation.
Explaining why these items should be measured, Dr. Smith pointed
out that deep ocean sediments provided insight into the characteristics and
heterogeneity of the ecosystem. Sedimentation – the descent through the
water of particles containing organic carbon – was a major element
governing the bottom fauna, including abundance, ecological rates and
possibly species structure. Bioturbation – the churning of sediments by
burrowing animals – was an index of animal activity that showed how
deeply the sediment redeposited from mining activity would be mixed as the
fauna recovered.
In the discussion, it became clear that more work would be needed
before standards could be set for some of the proposed sediment
measurements. When grain size, for example, was measured after raising it
from the bottom, the results were not a good indicator of how the sediment
would behave after it was resuspended from a mining plume. However, no
standards existed for such measurements either on the bottom or onboard
a vessel. Shear strength, an index of sediment cohesion, was measured
differently by different groups, sometimes in place and sometimes after
removal.
Standardization appeared closer in regard to sedimentation
monitoring, however. Smith noted that a scientific group had approved a
design for the traps that capture and measure sediment flux. The
placement of traps was an issue, however, with some participants favouring
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