Why the high seas must be protected

An agreement to protect the high seas is currently being negotiated in New York. It is about the largest habitat on earth, which is still almost completely unexplored. The marine biologist Antje Boetius, who heads the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, explains what is important in the agreement – and why scientists are also concerned about its development.

Ms. Boetius, for more than a decade there have been repeated negotiations about better protection of the high seas. Why is this so difficult?

We’re talking about a huge area of ​​the Earth’s surface on the high seas, about 60 percent. It is the area of ​​the ocean beyond the so-called 200-mile zone, i.e. mainly the deep sea. In 1982, this common human heritage was subject to the UNCLOS Convention on the Law of the Sea and a seabed authority was created in Jamaica, which regulates access to mineral resources. Now oceanic life is to be protected with rules and access regulated. Therefore, the process of the additional Convention on the Law of the Sea is called “Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction” (BBNJ, Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction). This is one of the most complex international law negotiations ever.

But there are already some regulations for the high seas, it is not a completely legal vacuum.

Yes and no. There is the law of the sea, but it was created with the focus on the mining of mineral resources. There are also the rules of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) of the United Nations, which primarily deal with safe and clean shipping. But ocean life has so far fallen through the cracks. After all, 90 percent of the living sphere is here, millions of unknown species, the greatest genetic resource of planet Earth. One focus of the negotiations is to ensure fair and sustainable access for all states, but at the same time to protect life.

How can an improvement be achieved quickly?

These are major problems that affect our entire lives and the solution to which lies in the transformation of how we deal with resources by the international community in line with the sustainability goals. It’s about alternatives to CO2 emissions, nitrogen eutrophication and the use of non-degradable plastics. Illegal fishing must be prevented by rules and controls, but also better livelihoods for fishermen. The High Seas Protection Agreement BBNJ is not directly responsible for these solutions. But for the framework of protected areas on the high seas and for space management in general, because all interventions would have to be reported.

In recent years it has become fashionable to value habitats according to their ecosystem services. What do the oceans offer?

The ocean absorbs 93 percent of man-made warming, 25 percent of the CO2 emitted, it provides half of the oxygen we breathe, it provides an important source of food for billions of people. Most importantly, it is home to the greatest genetic resource in the universe. There is enormous potential for the future in this. Not only is the protection of the diversity of life on earth in itself a human goal, it is also to be expected that we will be able to learn many more important biotechnologies from marine organisms. They have tricks of getting older than other life, they can live with less energy and in symbiosis with other organisms. Added value already includes various bioactive substances that are important in cancer medicine or as a replacement for antibiotics and to combat cell aging. Marine enzymes are used in the food and energy industries. The genetic diversity in the high seas holds so many solutions! We’re at the very beginning of our research, we haven’t even researched one per thousand of the habitat.

What is not known is to be protected in the High Seas Agreement?

Yes, states must protect this living space, these resources, for future generations as well. Otherwise they lose gut, even if these genes, species and resources are not exactly known today.