Environmental Assessment Research for Deep-Sea Mineral Resources Developments

Although development of any kind in deep-sea areas must abide by environmental protection rules, human activities in these areas continue to increase. Development of deep-sea mineral resources will be one of the most intense human activities in the area. However, the characteristics unique to deep-sea environments are not well understood, making it difficult to design environmental assessment programs.From the 1970s, a series of environmental assessment studies for development of manganese nodules has been conducted. Those effects brought a lot of basic knowledge of deep-sea environment, and made it possible to predict magnitude of environmental impact caused by mining activities. And these led to the issue of the environmental protection guideline by the International Seabed Authority in 2001.Currently, seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) , which is one of the deep-sea mineral resources, is attracted attentions as a new mineral resource. To develop it, similar to the case of manganese nodules, an environmental assessment program is indispensable. The knowledge provided from experience of the manganese nodules development will be useful to make the new assessment program. On the other hands, due to many people concerned with the problem of the sea, there are many contemporary problems that we cannot cope with from past experience. To understand this situation and solve those problems, ocean governance with broad scope is necessary.