Impacts specific to benthic communities at SMS deposits were reviewed by Van Dover, 2007 and Van Dover, 2011, and are summarized in Table 3. Alongside the obviously negative impacts of mining, such as the loss of sulphide habitat and biodiversity, the search for commercially viable deposits and the environmental surveys carried out by or for mining companies, will have benefits for science (reviewed by Van Dover, 2007 and Van Dover, 2011). The discovery GDC-0068 clinical trial of new SMS sites will occur at a faster pace, and there will be an improved understanding of SMS deposit ecology through the involvement of scientists in impact assessment studies and long-term monitoring

programs. Through industry-led scientific programs, new species could be discovered and the knowledge of life in extreme environments will expand. The management of SMS mining is controlled by different PLX-4720 clinical trial legislation according to the jurisdiction under which the proposed mining project falls. Within the EEZ or legal continental shelf of a country, all mining regulation and management falls under national jurisdiction. All seabed that does not fall within the EEZ or legal continental shelf of a country is termed

‘the Area’ and is managed by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) as determined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. All States party to the Convention must apply to the ISA for licences to prospect, explore and exploit mineral resources in the Area. The ISA has issued regulations governing prospecting and exploration for SMS deposits, which were adopted in May 2010 (International

Seabed Authority, 2010). Contractors must establish environmental baselines against which impacts from mining activities can be assessed, carry out environmental monitoring programmes, and take measures to prevent, reduce, and control pollution and other hazards to the marine environment (see Sections 6 and 7). Contractors must assess if serious harmful effects to vulnerable marine ecosystems, such as those associated with hydrothermal vents, will occur as a results Bacterial neuraminidase of mining activity, and applications for mining can be rejected where substantial evidence indicates the risk of serious harm to the marine environment. Other international conventions, such as the Stockholm Declaration (1972) (http://www.unep.org/Documents), the Rio Declaration (1992) (http://www.unep.org/Documents), the Convention on Biodiversity (1993) (http://www.cbd.int/convention/text/) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002) (http://www.un.org/jsummit/html/documents/summit_docs.html), influence the drafting of marine mining legislation by signatory countries. The Stockholm and Rio Declarations emphasise the need for environmental protection and environmental impact assessment in sustainable development, alongside the need to share scientific knowledge and adopt the ‘precautionary principle’.