Over 15 years of ocean science and conservation online
The deep-sea mining world was thrown a curveball last week when, as the spring session of the International Seabed Authority came to a close, the Metals Company, one of several commercial ventures seeking permission to mine polymetallic nodules in the Clipperton-Clarion Zone, announced that they would seek permission to mine directly from the United States, … Read More “The Metals Company has a Jones Act Problem” »
The march towards deep-sea mining is a slow and stately trudge through a complex international negotiation. The real progress isn’t made in flashy headlines or overhyped announcements, but in painstaking deliberations and incremental progress in the mining code and the environmental and financial regimes. In as much as 2024 was a fairly standard year in … Read More “Deep-sea Mining: What went down in 2024?” »
We have a problem. Collectively, we need to dramatically reduce our carbon emissions over the next few years to stave off the worst climate change outcomes. While this demands sweeping changes to energy policy at national and international levels, for individuals and organizations, electrification of the world’s automotive fleets offers the most direct change. Electric … Read More “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good: Plug-in Electric Hybrids are better than you think” »
Here are what the Marine Stewardship Council’s new requirements for sharks caught in certified sustainable fisheries mean. Sharks and their relatives are some of the most threatened vertebrates on Earth, and the number one threat by far is unsustainable overfishing practices. The Marine Stewardship Council, the non-profit that runs the world’s largest sustainable seafood certification … Read More “The world’s leading sustainable seafood certification standard just made some big changes for sharks” »
Ten years ago, freshly married and freshly relocated to Vallejo, California, I found myself in the midst of reinvention. The cycle of post-doctoral fellowships and short-term contracts necessary for an academic career didn’t suit me. I wanted stability and, importantly, I wanted freedom. Crowdfunding was new. Earlier that summer, OpenROV had shook the crowdfunding world … Read More “Small drops make mighty oceans: 10 years as a scientist on Patreon” »
The International Seabed Authority is once again gathered in Kingston, Jamaica to continue negotiations on a set of rules and regulations to govern seafloor mining in the high seas, beyond any nation’s borders. At stake is access to vast fields of polymetallic nodules spread across the abyssal plains. These nodules are rich in nickel and … Read More “One Mining Code to Rule Them All: The poison pill at the heart of the Deep-Sea Mining negotiations.” »
In 2011, the world’s first fishery for sharks was certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council*. The British Columbia spiny dogfish fishery made major news in fisheries management and ocean conservation world, where the possible existence of sustainable shark fisheries has been debated intensely. A few years later, the fishery voluntarily withdrew their certification, … Read More “New paper: What happened to the world’s first certified sustainable shark fishery?” »
On April 28, 2022, I was invited to give a short talk to a gathering of Environmental NGO representatives to provide an overview and my perspective on the current state of development for deep-sea mining. Below is the transcript of that talk. Good afternoon and thank you for inviting me. Today I’m going to give … Read More “Deep-Sea Mining: A whirlwind tour of the state of the industry and current policy regimes” »
The day they arrived, atmospheric CO2 held steady at 1600 parts per million and the coin traded at #75,236,808. The coin had surged in the years after the Majority War, when a single miner locked down enough processing power to strip the supply cap from the Core. The Battle for Hard Fork was the bloodiest … Read More “The day they arrived: a story of Bitcoin, terraforming, and invasion.” »
This article originally appeared in the October/November 2020 issue of the Deep-sea Mining Observer. It is reprinted here with permission. For the latest news and analysis about the development of the deep-sea mining industry, subscribe to DSM Observer here: http://dsmobserver.com/subscribe/ For the last decade, next-generation batteries have been the motivating force for the deep-sea mining industry. The … Read More “Beyond Batteries: exploring the demand for scandium and tellurium from the deep ocean” »
