Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
10.6.1 The prospects for the exploitation of genetic resources in the deep seabed
While the prospects for commercial mining in the seabed beyond national jurisdiction are
uncertain, the exploitation of commercially valuable genetic resources may in the near fu-
ture become a promising activity to take place in the area.
The deep seabed is not a desert, despite extreme conditions of cold, complete darkness,
and high pressure. It is the habitat of diverse forms of life associated with typical features,
such as hydrothermal vents, cold-water seeps, seamounts, or deep water coral reefs. In par-
ticular, it supports biological communities that present unique genetic characteristics. For
instance, some animal communities live in the complete absence of sunlight where warm
water springs from tectonically active areas (so-called hydrothermal vents). Several species
of microorganisms, fish, crustaceans, polychaetes, echinoderms, coelenterates, and molluscs
have been found in hydrothermal vent areas. Many of these were new to science. These
communities, which do not depend on plant photosynthesis for their survival, rely on spe-
cially adapted microorganisms able to synthesize organic compounds from the hydrothermal
fluid of the vents (chemosynthesis). The ability of some deep seabed organisms to survive
extreme temperatures (thermophiles and hyperthermofiles), high pressure (barophiles), and
other extreme conditions (extremophiles) makes their genes of great interest to science and
industry.
But what is the international regime applying to genetic resources in areas beyond na-
tional jurisdiction? In fact, neither the UNCLOS nor the 1992 Convention on Biological
Diversityprovideanyspecificlegalframeworkinthisregard.Thefactualimplicationsofthe
question are pointed out in a document issued in 2005 by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific,
Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), established under the Convention on Bi-
First, only a few states and private entities have access to the financial means and soph-
isticated technologies needed to reach the deep seabed:
