New co-authored paper published today in The Nautilus! [Link] The Nautilus is a peer-reviewed journal publishing articles on diverse aspects of the biology, ecology, and systematics of mollusks established in 1886.
In this new paper, we discuss the potential impacts of deep-sea mining to molluscan biodiversity, especially with regards to exploiting active hydrothermal sulfide deposits.
Take the famous scaly-foot gastropod Chrysomallon squamiferum as an example – it is only known from three hydrothermal vents in the Indian Ocean, each around 0.003 sq km or half the size of a football field. Two of the three scaly-foot sites are already under active mining exploration licenses from the International Seabed Authority (ISA), to China (2011-2026) and Germany (2015-2030); the last one is in the Mauritius exclusive economic zone and therefore not under ISA jurisdiction. In fact, only 37 vent sites have been detected (4 actually visited) in the Indian Ocean (area approx.. 73,550,000 sq km) and their total area adds up to a mere 0.27 sq km (check out the infographics)! Many of these are also within the areas licenced for mining. These explorations are due to begin very soon and no conservation measures are in place or proposed, whereas many terrestrial mollusks such as the two-lipped door snail Alinda biplicata have extensive reserves dedicated to their conservation. Economic and political pressures to exploit deep-sea vents are advancing far quicker than our scientific understanding of these ecosystems that unique animals such as the scaly-foot call home, putting them at risk. Conservation measures for vent animals are urgently needed, and seem warranted given their tiny, disjunct areas of distribution.
