Deep Sea Mining and what it means for the ecosystem

 Extraction of mineral resources from the oceans below a depth of 200 metres is what’s called Deep Sea Mining. The seabed is not yet thoroughly explored, and depletion terrestrial deposits has lead to an increased demand to look into the depths of the ocean. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) has recently declared that it is going to start taking permit applications from various companies that wish to mine the ocean floor. While this practice certainly has economic benefits, it can be just as harmful for the marine ecosystem.


These are the methods of conducting Deep Sea Mining :
• Extracting metals from poly metallic nodules on abyssal plains.
• Stripping cobalt crusts off of seamounts.
• Extracting poly metallic sulphides from hydrothermal vents.


As of now, countries are free to carry out exploitation within their borders. Earlier this year, in June, Norway proposed opening it’s borders for Deep Sea Mining. France has banned it in their waters, while Germany has called for a pause. So far, India has been granted two exploration contracts so far – one for poly metallic nodules, and another for poly metallic sulphides.


The deep sea in one of the most unexplored parts of our planet. Exploring it can cause irreversible damage to the fragile ocean ecosystem. It can disturb flora and fauna, that have adapted to conditions such as poor oxygen and sunlight, high pressure and extremely low temperatures. To this day, the deep sea’s biodiversity and ecology remain poorly understood. This makes it difficult to asses the environmental impact and frame adequate guidelines.


Deep Sea Mining presents the threat of sediment disruption, wastewater generation, besides light and noise pollution. A lot of historical information might be lost forever.


Getting resources from the ocean would also be rather tricky. The specialised drills and extraction technologies that would be required for pulling out metals are going to pose a major technical challenge. Not to mention it being quite expensive.


Environmental issues notwithstanding, the current situation is that human beings have decided that we are going to get our metal and mineral resources from the deep sea. Companies are going to do what what they need to in order to maximize profits. This calls for an international charter to regulate Deep Sea Mining. Organisations such as the ISA, IUCN, UNCLOS, along with littoral countries need to have multi-stakeholder discussions to work out adequate guidelines to ensure minimum possible damage to the ecosystem. 

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