standardization of environmental data and information - International ...

from various countries. In general, the approach of coordination won out over
central management.
Another idea that gained support was to have one or more voucher
collections of type specimens, either located in one place or circulating,
against which contractors could compare their own finds.
The discussion of field sampling touched on several issues, notably the
usefulness of advisory teams that would go along on research cruises to help
contractors collect and process samples. Smith cited as an example the need
to standardize techniques for lowering box corers to collect sediment and
fauna samples on the seabed, a process that could produce different and
therefore non-comparable results if not done properly. There was broad
support for the exchange of scientists on research cruises, though the idea of
seagoing advisory teams met with a mixed response: a contractor stressed
that individual groups should be left to decide whether they wanted such help,
while another contractor doubted that there would be room aboard research
vessels for an international team. The latter speaker favoured having the
Authority establish its own research team or cooperative programme.
One participant pointed out that oceanic exploration by individual
scientists or groups was different from seabed exploration, where contractors
working in the same region had a common goal of assessing the
environmental impact of a proposed activity. A degree of comparability was
needed in the latter situation.
Smith asked for views on the idea of using a central laboratory for
chemical analysis and sample processing, as was often done in the United
States. Three contractors objected to such an approach, however, saying that
they could handle such work on their own and that they wanted to build up
their own capabilities to do so. Another idea, to have a single monitoring firm,
received no support.
Dr. Rahul Sharma, scientist at the National Institute of Oceanography,
Goa, India, reviewed in a paper the reasons for collecting baseline
environmental data and listed the kinds of data required, from atmosphere to
seafloor. The paper went on to discuss studies of mining impacts, stating that
none of the results of impact experiments so far could be used to predict the
effects of large-scale mining, because the tests had covered too small an area
and had not lasted long enough, and because the test equipment did not
match what miners could be expected to use.
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