The negotiations for a binding instrument on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity beyond national jurisdiction

The conservation of marine biological diversity has been identified as a crucial issue in need of legal regulation. The UNCLOS does not sufficiently address all issues relevant to viably conserve biological diversity. Legal developments concerning marine genetic resources, area-based management tools such as marine protected areas, environmental impact assessment and capacity building are being discussed as elements of a new implementing agreement. In particular, more precise legal rules concerning marine protected areas beyond national jurisdiction are needed to supplement the frame left by UNCLOS. As concerns the issue of access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits the UNCLOS regime has gaps because the relevant activities had not been foreseen at the time of the convention's adoption. Divergent views exist as to whether the concept of the common heritage of mankind should be extended to genetic resources.     

Bio-logging as marine scientific research under the law of the sea: A commentary responding to James Kraska,Guillermo Ortuño Crespo,David W. Johnston,bio-logging of marine migratory species in the law of the sea,Marine Policy 51 (2015) 394–400

Rapid advances in attaching miniaturized electronic devices to marine animals for the purpose of learning more about their behavior and interaction with the marine environment, known as bio-logging, raise important and unsettled questions under the international law of the sea. Part XIII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides coastal states with the right to regulate and authorize marine scientific research in offshore areas under their sovereignty and jurisdiction. In their recent article published in this journal, James Kraska, Guillermo Ortuño, and David W. Johnston, assert that although bio-logging is a form of marine scientific research, Part XIII of UNCLOS does not apply to tagged animals that collect scientific information within a coastal state’s 200 mile exclusive economic zone, territorial sea, or internal waters. This commentary rejects Kraska et al.'s interpretation and provides evidence to support the claim that coastal state consent under Part XIII of UNCLOS may, under some circumstances, apply to bio-logging. In light of the immense scientific contributions that bio-logging research provide to global marine conservation efforts and the possible burdens that may be imposed on researchers if coastal states begin to assert their rights under UNCLOS, it is important that the international community engage in a robust and candid discussion of the issue and develop a consensus-based approach on how best to move forward.     

UNCLOS and the marine scientist

The deliberations at UNCLOS have been watched with great interest by individual marine scientists and by those who have attended as observers on behalf of scientific groups. Most of all these scientists have been apprehensive that their ability (freedom) to carry out research would be significantly limited by many of the provisions of the ICNT. In fact, one author goes as far as to state that progress has been made, largely at the expense of the marine research scientist¹.     

To accede or not to accede: An analysis of the current US position related to the United Nations law of the sea

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (hereafter “UNCLOS”) is one of the most significant legal instruments of modern times, though the United States (US) has yet to join the 167 nations that have signed the document. Until the twentieth century, freedom of the seas led to inequity among nations, violence, and environmental disasters. UNCLOS provides a peaceful legal structure to resolve border disputes and enforce anti-pollution regulations while maintaining freedom of navigation, safety at sea, and marine scientific research efforts. However, the legitimacy of UNCLOS continues to deteriorate as China acts unilaterally while its global economic reach expands. Additionally, the US cannot participate in international agreements to access ocean resources in the deep seabed or claim portions of the Arctic due to non-accession to UNCLOS. Such accession would protect global security as the balance of power otherwise becomes increasingly unstable. The US must also accede to ensure economic development for itself as well as the preservation of coastal resources upon which many nations rely. In conclusion, US non-accession will risk global security, economic development, and the US position of strength.     

国际海洋科技领域研究热点及未来布局

近年来,全球海洋研究呈现出若干新的特点。本文基于对近年来全球重要海洋研究进展信息,分析了全球环境变化背景下几个重要研究热点方向的最新进展,包括全球海洋物理环境变化研究、海洋塑料污染研究、海洋酸化研究、南北极和印度洋研究以及海洋技术开发等。基于对美国、英国、日本和俄罗斯等重要海洋国家最新发布的海洋科技创新政策和计划,分析了各国海洋科技未来布局和重点关注领域。最后,总结了全球海洋领域的发展趋势:(1)气候变化问题在海洋中的延伸效应将持续受到关注;(2)全球性海洋环境问题的导向作用更加明显;(3)海洋技术向智能化方向发展;(4)海洋战略规划的引领作用日渐加强。     

一个基于MOM的全球海洋数值同化预报系统

随着国家战略利益的拓展,国家对全球海洋环境预报保障的需求日益凸显。近年来,国家海洋环境预报中心研发并建立我国首个涵盖全球大洋的"全球海洋数值预报系统",该预报系统由MOM4全球海洋环流模式及三维变分同化系统组成。该系统的建立,实现了全球范围海洋环流预报业务全覆盖,为我国探索深海大洋环境的迫切需求提供有力保障,明显提升了我国海洋环境预报能力,体现了我国海洋数值预报技术的发展和进步。该系统的历史回报试验和业务化试运行结果表明其对全球海洋环境要素具有较好的预报能力,其预测结果已经在实际业务中得到了应用,在"雪龙号"极地遇险脱困、马航MH370失联飞机搜救等重大事件的预报保障任务中发挥了重要作用,为我国实施海洋强国战略,推进实施"21世纪海上丝绸之路"的战略构想,应对海上突发事件、维护国家海洋权益等各个方面提供有力的科技支撑和保障,并成为我国全球海洋预报业务的重要参考依据。     

Zoning strategies for marine protected areas in Taiwan: Case study of Gueishan Island in Yilan County,Taiwan

According to the United Nations (UN) Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, there has been a dramatic decline in global biodiversity. The UN has made a global appeal for all countries to mitigate their impact on the environment. Marine environmental protection is one of the most critical and urgent issues in the world and many countries have commenced establishing marine protected areas (MPAs) by implementing ecosystem-based management (EBM) concepts. MPA planning has been considered one of the simplest and most effective methods to protect marine environments. Taiwan has recently developed policies that have focused on its marine environment, and there are plans to increase the size of Taiwan׳s MPAs to 20% of its total ocean territory by 2020, thereby achieving a sustainable ocean. To achieve this goal, the government must address specific difficulties associated with the location of MPAs and relevant zoning strategies. This study establishes MPA protection principles and a zoning framework for MPAs in Taiwan by using Gueishan Island in Yilan County as a case study site to examine specific zoning strategies. The protection of 3 objectives (hydrothermal vents, cetacean, and fisheries resources) is discussed in this paper. Multi-criteria spatial analysis and a geographic information system are applied to identify the most crucial area to protect. To understand the stakeholders׳ opinions and concerns regarding the proposed zoning framework, this research conducted in-depth interviews with experts and stakeholders. MPAs zoning strategies are formulated at the conclusion of this study that could assist in protecting critical marine resources and avoiding conflicts among various usages of the marine area.     

Marine governance in an industrialised ocean: A case study of the emerging marine renewable energy industry

The world׳s oceans are currently undergoing an unprecedented period of industrialisation, made possible by advances in technology and driven by our growing need for food, energy and resources. This is placing the oceans are under intense pressure, and the ability of existing marine governance frameworks to sustainably manage the marine environment is increasingly being called into question. Emerging industries are challenging all aspects of these frameworks, raising questions regarding ownership and rights of the sea and its resources, management of environmental impacts, and management of ocean space. This paper uses the emerging marine renewable energy (MRE) industry, particularly in the United Kingdom (UK), as a case study to introduce and explore some of the key challenges. The paper concludes that the challenges are likely to be extensive and argues for development of a comprehensive legal research agenda to advance both MRE technologies and marine governance frameworks.     

Sustaining marine life beyond boundaries: Options for an implementing agreement for marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

For nearly a decade, governments have been discussing the need to improve efforts to conserve and sustainably use marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). Support for a new international agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) – an Implementing Agreement – on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in ABNJ has been growing. In June 2012, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, States agreed to take a decision on the development of an international instrument under UNCLOS before the end of the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), which runs from September 2014 to August 2015. In follow-up to this commitment, it was agreed to consider the “scope, parameters and feasibility” of this instrument. To inform these international discussions, this article highlights some potential options for the content of a new UNCLOS Implementing Agreement. It first reviews the history of UN discussions, and then elaborates on options to address key elements identified as priorities for States in 2011: marine genetic resources, including the sharing of benefits, area-based management tools, including marine protected areas, environmental impact assessments, capacity-building and the transfer of marine technology. It addresses cross-cutting issues such as the governing principles, institutional structure as well as on other critical points such as High Seas fishing and flag State responsibilities. The article concludes with suggestions on possible next steps in order to succeed in the negotiations for an agreement.     

防治海洋工程建设项目对海洋环境的污染损害法律问题研究

近年来海洋工程建设项目随着海洋经济的繁荣日益增多,在带动海洋经济发展的同时也增加了危害海洋环境的可能性,过度的海洋开发活动加重了对海洋环境的污染及生态系统的破坏程度。我国虽在立法上制定了一系列法规政策、专门条例为海洋工程污染防治保驾护航,但是目前海洋工程污染防治并未引起法学界的过多关注和深入研究。在我国海洋工程污染防治中仍然存在如下问题亟待解决：海洋工程环境影响评价制度的程序及责任设定问题、海洋工程听证制度公众参与度不足、海洋工程环境高风险领域责任保险制度不够完善、监管力度不足、公民对海洋工程污染防治知情权的缺失等。通过对以上问题进行法律分析及原因分析,对相关条例、法律及政策进行总结评析,提出解决对策。通过完善环境影响评价制度,健全听证制度相关规定,加强环境污染责任保险制度建设,提升对海洋工程污染防治的监管力度,明确公民知情权等方式来解决所提出的问题,为海洋工程污染防治提供更多的法律助推力量。     

Renewable energy from the ocean

Growing concern over the threat of global climate change has led to an increased interest in research and development of renewable energy technologies. The ocean provides a vast source of potential energy resources, and as renewable energy technology develops, investment in ocean energy is likely to grow. Research in ocean thermal energy conversion, wave energy, tidal energy, and offshore wind energy has led to promising technologies and in some cases, commercial deployment. These sources have the potential to help alleviate the global climate change threat, but the ocean environment should be protected while these technologies are developed. Renewable energy sources from the ocean may be exploited without harming the marine environment if projects are sited and scaled appropriately and environmental guidelines are followed.     

Public awareness of marine environmental issues in the UK

This paper presents the results of a survey of public awareness of marine environmental issues within the context of the UK's National Maritime Museum. It was found that public interest in marine environmental issues is significant, but that gaps exist in terms of issue-specific awareness and that the availability of independent information on marine issues is limited. It is concluded that there are significant opportunities to develop the Museum's role in raising public awareness of marine environmental issues that build on its current activities and that of the Museum's partners.     

中国海洋卫星遥感技术进展

新中国成立70年来，中国在海洋卫星遥感技术领域取得了丰硕成果。中国制定了长远的自主海洋卫星发展规划，构建了海洋水色、海洋动力环境和海洋监视监测三大系列的海洋卫星，逐步形成了以中国自主卫星为主导的海洋空间监测网，在中国海洋资源与环境监测、海洋防灾减灾、海洋安全管理等方面发挥了重要作用。本文回顾了中国在海洋水色、海洋微波(海洋动力环境)卫星遥感技术的发展历程，重点介绍了中国在海洋卫星遥感技术领域所取得的新成果，并对中国海洋卫星遥感技术的未来发展进行了展望。     

Regulating wave and tidal energy: An industry perspective on the Scottish marine governance framework

The emerging ocean energy industry, which seeks to utilise waves and tides to generate electricity, is developing in many jurisdictions. The UK, and Scotland in particular, is strongly interested in these technologies, and has made considerable efforts to reform its marine governance processes to better meet the needs of innovative new marine industries. This paper provides an industry perspective on this regulatory framework, reporting on the experiences of ocean energy project and technology developers. Semi-structured interviews with companies with practical experience with Scotland's regulatory framework provide evidence of a number of legal and regulatory challenges, as well as interesting insights into how developers are interacting with new marine governance systems. The paper details the findings of these interviews and offers some suggested directions for future research.     

The expansion,limit and decline of the global marine fish catch

Catch of marine fish grew from after WW II–1989, at which point it stabilized. In 1996 it began to decline. It continues to decline now, at a time when earth's population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050. Since the factors driving the increase are primarily the growth in income, population, technology of catching fish and ever increasing fishing effort, it is to be expected that the aggregate marine catch will continue to decline. This decline has important implications for marine ecosystems but primarily its importance relates to the human use of other global resources such as food, water and world's climate.     

Distribution,behavior and fate of PCBs in the marine environment

I am extremely grateful and honored for being awarded the Okada Prize (1985) for my study. The present article reviews my research on the distribution, behavior and fate of PCBs in the marine environment. The outline of this study is summarized as follows:

1. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were detectable in the wide range of environmental media and biota of the Seto-Inland Sea, Japan, in which much high concentrations were found in sediment and biological samples due to their hydrophobic, lipophilic and less biodegradable properties as well as their extensive production and use in estuarine and coastal regions.
2. PCBs extend the boundaries of their distribution all over the global environment, being evidenced by their occurrence in open ocean atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere, even in Antarctica. The global contamination of PCBs is much more prominent in northern hemisphere than in southern hemisphere.
3. The sinking rate of PCBs from surface to deeper layers in open ocean water column is relatively slower in tropical waters than in high latitude ones. This implies the possible prolonged contamination of persistent synthetic organic chemicals in the tropical marine environment.
4. The bioaccumulation processes in marine ecosystems can be explained by the physicochemical and biochemical properties of PCBs and the metabolic capacity of organisms. In higher animals, additional factors such as parturition and lactation are also related to this process.
5. Total PCB load in global environment was estimated to be about 370 thousand tons. Of this, most amounts were in coastal sediment and open ocean water. Presently, about 780 thousand tons of PCBs are still in use mainly in electrical equipments. In order to reduce the PCB levels in marine environment, pertinent measures to prevent the further discharge and safe disposal of PCBs are required.

     

Social licence in the marine sector: A review of understanding and application

Our global oceans are threatened by climate change, overfishing, pollution and a growing list of other impacts that demonstrate an urgent global need for sustainable ocean management. Whilst marine conservation initiatives and protected ocean spaces have increased over recent years, ocean management still lags behind the terrestrial sectors in incorporating and involving communities in its development. ‘Social licence to operate’ is used broadly across the terrestrial literature, but its understanding and application within the marine has been limited to date. This review sought to collate and synthesise instances of social licence in the marine realm as documented in the literature, aiming to create an understanding that may inform future research and development of social licence. Its results determine that social licence is yet an emergent concept in the marine sector but there may be great potential for its application in the marine context. Social licence has become an important theme for development in marine industry and resource use, particularly towards exploring communication and stakeholder engagement. This paper identifies future themes and areas requiring investigation and application in this domain.     

The international legal framework for marine spatial planning

Increasing demand for ocean resources, both living and non-living, have already lead to loss of biodiversity, habitat depletion and irreversible damage to the marine environment. Furthermore, introduction of new kinds of sea uses, spatial extension of ongoing sea uses and the need to better protect and conserve the marine biological diversity will result in increasing conflicts among the various users, as well as between the users and the environment. Marine spatial planning as a process to allocate space for specific uses can help to avoid user conflicts, to improve the management of marine spatial claims, and to sustain an ecosystem-based management of ocean and seas. This article explores the rights and duties towards exploitation and protection of the marine environment under the jurisdiction of coastal states as reflected in two important global conventions, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Both Conventions provide the main legal framework for marine spatial planning that have to be taken into account in planning at the regional and national level.     

A global synthesis of the economic multiplier effects of marine sectors

As competition for use of the ocean increases, coastal managers must consider the economic impacts of competing marine sectors in decision-making processes. To capture the full extent of the economic impacts of marine industries, multiplier values can be used to estimate the sum of direct, indirect, and induced effects on associated industries. This study provides a global synthesis of multiplier effects on four economic indicators of eight marine sectors in regions of varying size and development status. The average multiplier was 1.82, indicating that every dollar generated by a direct marine industry leads to an additional 82 cents generated by associated industries. The industry of offshore energy and the economic indicator of revenue had the largest multiplier effects. No significant difference was found between multiplier values in developed and developing regions, and weak correlations were found between multiplier value and region size. This synthesis offers the first global view of the economic multiplier effects of marine industries and can serve as a tool to support city- to country-level marine industry development decisions throughout the world, especially where similar data are not available.     

海洋水文气象多时空尺度资料来源分析

目前,海洋数据获取量日益增多,根据时空分辨率、时空范围、垂向分层情况等的不同,可将海洋数据分为多种类型。了解和掌握现有的海洋数据资料,并加以利用,对国家经济发展、国防安全、军事活动等具有重要意义。经过长时间的研究和积累,本文总结了国内外海洋数据资料发布的几个主要数据源,同时归纳了几类常用的海洋数据资料,包括地形水深数据、卫星遥感数据、海洋调查观测数据、再分析产品数据,并对各类数据适用的时间尺度、空间尺度进行分析,旨在为海洋领域的科研工作者提供信息支持,为我国海洋大数据的建设提供参考。