'We need to start better protecting our oceans', warn Devon academics
The University of Exeter is part of the report which suggests it is time to 'prevent irreversible damage to marine biodiversity'
Experts at the University of Exeter are calling for a permanent ban on the high seas of fishing, seabed mining, and oil and gas exploitation
Writing in the journal Nature, Professor Callum Roberts and co-authors argue that 'stopping all extractive activity in international waters would prevent irreversible damage to marine biodiversity, the climate, and ocean equity'.
“Life in the high seas is vital to the ocean’s ability to store carbon and is too important to lose,” said lead author Professor Callum Roberts, Professor of Marine Conservation at the University of Exeter and lead researcher with the Convex Seascape Survey.
“This paper makes the case that we must stop extractive activities in the high seas permanently, to protect the climate, restore biodiversity and safeguard ocean function for future generations.
"This would also be a decisive step toward achieving the goal of protecting 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030, as set out in the Global Biodiversity Framework agreed in 2022.
The paper highlights four reasons for a ban:
1. Climate stability: The high seas are Earth’s largest and most secure carbon sink. Protecting them is critical to preserving the biological and nutrient cycles that draw down and keep atmospheric CO₂ in check.
2. Biodiversity and fisheries: Species such as tuna, sharks, marlin, squid and krill, which are currently targeted in high seas fishing, would have a chance to recover and spill over into national waters. This would support food security and fairer access to resources, particularly for lower income nations in the Global South.
3. Oil and gas: There is no climate justification to exploit fossil fuels in the high seas, given existing reserves on land and in national waters, and rapid development in green energy generation.
4. Deep-sea mining: The industry poses uncontrollable and irreversible risks to environment and climate, despite claims the minerals are essential for green technologies. Much larger, proven land-based mineral reserves exist that can be exploited with less risk, better governance and greater transparency.
“The high seas are a critical regulator of Earth’s climate system,” said Professor Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. “Protecting them is essential to preserving global stability and avoiding dangerous tipping points that threaten life on Earth.”
“This is not a fringe environmental demand,” added Mark Lynas, co-author and climate journalist. “Ending exploitation in the high seas is a scientifically grounded, economically sensible and morally urgent decision if we want to avert ecological collapse.
"While the UN High Seas Treaty, announced in June 2023, offers a pathway to greater protection, its implementation will take years. The authors argue that urgent action is needed now. A full and permanent ban on extractive use, they suggest, is both feasible and necessary, echoing the successful precedent set for Antarctica in the 1950s."