The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) and other partners launched a website on vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ).
The website includes a global inventory of fisheries management measures taken by RFMOs to reduce current and potential impacts on VMEs in ABNJ.
16 December 2014: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) and other partners launched a website on vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). The website includes a global inventory of fisheries management measures taken by RFMOs to reduce current and potential impacts on VMEs in ABNJ.
The website aims to facilitate the work of scientists and managers in managing deep-sea fisheries in ABNJ and to promote information accessibility and transparency on VME work. The website also promotes the use of the International Guidelines for the Management of Deep-Sea Fisheries in the High Seas, which provide guidance on the long-term conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources in deep-sea areas.
The database features an interactive map that can be filtered by region and year to display geographic VME information, such as on closures or protection measures for an area. The website includes background information on global processes related to VMEs, including sections on: VME criteria; key concepts; definitions and sources; international guidelines; deep sea guidelines; VME tools, including publications and identification manuals; and regional bodies involved in the management of deep-sea fisheries.
FAO’s Deep-sea Fisheries Programme developed the database in response to a request from the UN General Assembly in Resolution 61/105 to create such a database. The database will be updated as new measures are taken and new information becomes available.
FAO’s International Guidelines for the Management of Deep-sea Fisheries in the High Sea’s classifies a marine ecosystem as vulnerable based on the following characteristics: uniqueness or rarity; functional significance of the habitat; fragility; life-history traits of component species that make recovery difficult; and structural complexity. Examples of species, communities or habitats that may be classified as VMEs include certain cold water coral and hydroids; some sponge dominated communities; seep and vent communities with endemic invertebrate and microbial species; and canyons, trenches and hydrothermal vents. [FAO Press Release] [Common Oceans Press Release] [UNGA Resolution 61/105] [VME Database]