A matter of man and mountain
Within this massive stretch of water a number of seamounts can be found. Seamounts constitute a cornerstone element in marine ecosystems. Their particular vulnerability is that they are, for the most part, inside the coastal sovereignty of states, but have little or no legal jurisdiction governing their use. Plankton, sea grass beds, kelp forests and coral reefs all find their homes in seamounts. As varied the life they support, so too the threats they suffer. Offshore drilling, oil and chemical pollutants, coastal development and merchant shipping threaten the integrity and the health of such ecosystems. Faced with the problem whereby exploitation could run on unchecked and without legal recourse, the WWF under the auspices of a European funded project OASIS (OceAnic Seamounts: an Integrated Study) set out to determine a management "tool-box" that would serve to preserve these habitats in relation to sustainable development. A large part of this project looked at the current situation regarding seamounts and their potential as candidates for classification as marine protected areas. The project also looked into the development of regulatory controls with the aim of establishing management principles for such protected areas. The intention here is to establish a "chain" of regulated seamounts that would be incorporated into the global network of regulated seamounts. There are an estimated 10,000 to 50,000 seamounts, of which only 346 fall in 84 marine protected areas. The "Offshore MPA toolbox" therefore seeks to provide the most important information regarding seamounts such as their designation, their management and their selection. The toolbox, for which there is a working prototype, provides useful information online, colour-coded links for data-mining purposes and a navigational menu for easy access. It grants the user access to such content as the legal framework for the project and the assessment of ecologies. Wherever one goes, a right-sided navigation menu reflects additional information related to their current search or content extraction, such as further recommendations, guidelines and maps. The toolbox, therefore, does not intend to prohibit human-economic exploitation, but with the aid of two case studies, to develop a well-rounded plan that promotes ecological preservation as well as sustainable development. Perhaps, in a manner of speaking, the toolbox's greatest achievement is a symbiosis of man and mountain, not one to be conquered because "it's there" but one to be lived with because "we're here".
