Constellation, le dépôt institutionnel de l'Université du Québec à Chicoutimi

Résumé

Patricio Bernal, the Coordinator of the International Union for Conservation of Nature High Seas Initiative, once wrote: “We know more about the surface of the Moon and about Mars than we do about the deep seafloor, despite the fact that we have yet to extract a gram of food, a breath of oxygen or a drop of water from those bodies” (Snelgrove, 2010). Often referred to as the last frontier on Earth, the deep seafloor is thought to shelter both critical ecosystems and exploitable resources (i.e., minerals, bio-active natural products, and genetic material, in addition to food resources already being harvested by the fishing industry). These resources are said to have enormous potential to contribute to the growth of the blue economy, potential that will be realized only with an increased understanding of deep-sea environments (Glover et al., 2018). However, knowledge of deep-sea environments and the anthropogenic impacts on them lags in comparison to other marine environments. To address this issue, several cooperative international agreements have been signed. For instance, the Galway Statement (signed by the European Union, United States, and Canada) and the Belém Statement (also signed by Brazil and South Africa) were endorsed to launch an All-Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance. This alliance aims to increase our understanding of the Atlantic Ocean and its systems and promote the sustainable management of its resources. In addition, activities and programs associated with the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030), such as The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project, Challenger 150, and the One Ocean Network for Deep Observation, will likely help increase awareness of the importance of seafloor mapping.