EarthRef.org Digital Archive (ERDA) -- Protecting Seamounts - Examples from North America and Hawaii

Description
Seamounts, and similar features on the seabed, possess significant ecological value, generally exhibiting high biodiversity and endemism. In this keynote presentation for the SEAMOUNTS'09 Workshop, Brad Barr describes that while many seamounts are protected to some degree by their remote location, few are so remote as to be unaffected by human activities. Some form of active management may be required to preserve their ecosystem integrity, structure and function. For seamounts within the boundary of exclusive economic zones, there are a number of potential management alternatives that can be used to provide protection, from imposing activity-specific regulations to establishing marine protected areas. The management toolbox for seamounts in the high seas is limited, and these international mechanisms may be considerably less effective than those for waters nearer shore. Beyond having relevant authority to manage and protect seamounts, sustained and not insignificant financial resources must also be available to support enforcement, permitting, monitoring, and other essential management activities in order to achieve effective protection. Examples will be used from the Pacific Coast of North America and Hawaii to demonstrate the relative strengths and weakness of different management strategies that have been and are being used to protect seamounts and similar submerged topographic features in these areas.