MiningImpact. Ecological Aspects of Deep-Sea Mining. Life time 1 January December 2017 Budget ~9.5 Mio (funding: ~6.

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1 MiningImpact Ecological Aspects of Deep-Sea Mining Partners 25 institutes from 11 European countries Coordinator: Matthias Haeckel, GEOMAR Life time 1 January December 2017 Budget ~9.5 Mio (funding: ~6.2 Mio + ship time) Belgium: UGent, RBINS France: IFREMER Germany: GEOMAR, MPI, SGN, JUB, UBremen, AWI, BGR, UBielefeld Italy: Conisma Norway: IRIS, NTNU, UiB Poland: ULodz, USzczecin Portugal: UAveiro, IMAR Romania: Geoecomar Sweden: UGothenburg The Netherlands: NIOZ United Kingdom: NOCS/NERC, NHM, USOU

2 Introduction Impacts of polymetallic nodule mining Removal of nodules & 10 cm of seafloor Generation of sediment plume that will resettle & blanket the seafloor Discharge of sediment tailings from surface platform / riser pipe Oebius et al. (2001) DSR II 48 TUSCH, 1996 Loss of habitat Loss of species & genetic diversity Loss of ecosystem structure & functions Change of surface sediment characteristics & processes

3 Introduction Assessing long-term impacts of nodule mining Status of disturbed ecosystems in the DISCOL Area (SO242) Implications for future nodule mining in the CCZ (SO239 + JC120) CCZ DISCOL

4 Introduction Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCZ) Revisiting old disturbance tracks and comparing seamounts & nodule fields Belgian, dredge, 1 year French, OMCO dredge track, 37 years Lutz et al., 2007; Martinez et al. 2015

5 Introduction DISCOL experiment Seafloor with nodules was ploughed in 1989 Investigated after 0, 0.5, 3, 7 and 26 years The plough harrow (1989) AUV photo mosaic (<1 cm resolution) Disturbance track (2015) Thiel & Schriever (1990) Ambio 19 Köser (unpublished) ROV Kiel 6000, GEOMAR

6 Baseline, Monitoring, EIA Seafloor habitat mapping In situ process studies <1 cm 1 m >10 m object size (resolution) <100 m km 2 1 km 2 spatial coverage per hour Lab work Numerical models Databases plume, foodweb, biogeochemistry DNA/proteome fingerprinting photo/video annotation, PANGAEA, species collections

7 Main Scientific Results Nodule ecosystems support a highly diverse fauna of sessile and mobile species Faunal communities & environmental parameters show a high variability even on a very local spatial scale Benthic fauna communities differ significantly between seamounts and nodule habitats

8 Main Scientific Results Loss of seafloor integrity by nodule and sediment removal generally reduces population densities and ecosystem functions, such as biogeochemical remineralization processes and the productivity of the benthic community Disturbance impacts on nodule ecosystems last for many decades and affect numerous ecosystem compartments and functions Megafauna density decrease & community shift Biogeochemical activity Increasing seafloor disturbance level Marcon, Purser (unpublished) Vonnahme et al. (unpublished)

9 Recommendations Conservation areas need to match habitat characteristics of mined areas (e.g. ocean productivity, nodule coverage, community composition) to preserve abyssal biodiversity and protect specific vulnerable or important ecosystems Seamounts and APEIs alone cannot be expected to compensate for biodiversity and ecosystem services lost by mining operations: additional MPAs needed Minimizing large-scale impacts requires careful & adaptive spatial planning of mining operations, establishment of a network of representative preservation areas, and the development of low-impact mining equipment EMMPs for each mining area need to address uncertainties in the sediment plume dispersal and account for spatial variability in the deep sea Mining Block Exploitable Resource Area Mined Area Impacted Area (incl. plume) Impact Reference Zone (IRZ) Preservation Reference Zone (PRZ) Plume Impact Reference Zone Marine Protected Area (MPA) Concept for environmental management & monitoring plan (EMMP)

10 Recommendations Current direction Multi-year ocean bottom current data AUV mapping of sediment blanketing of the seafloor Appropriate monitoring technologies to assess mining impacts and spatial & temporal variability are available ISBA documents on methods & parameters for baseline studies and monitoring need to be revised to current state-of-the-art science Indicators of ecosystem health and threshold values for harmful effects on the environment need to be defined as well as rules for avoiding or mitigating them Assessment of environmental risks needs to be fed into improved legislation Transparent, independent scientific assessment of deep-sea mining operations and transparent data policies need to be secured

11 Outreach activities European Maritime Day (May 2016) Panel discussion UN World Ocean Day (June 2016) Side event at the ISA (July 2016) Discussion panel at EU Parliament (Nov 2016) BMBF Year of the Oceans 2016/17 Video installations of artist Armin Linke 2017/18 Stakeholder Event at the National History Museum London (Oct 2017) TV documentaries: Arte, Leschs Kosmos, ZDF KiKa Interviews for radio stations, newspapers, journals Presentations for general public (e.g. Kiel Week)

12 Outlook MiningImpact 2 will attempt to reduce scientific uncertainties, to further close knowledge gaps, and to test management & monitoring concepts