Read the joint press release by the JPI-Oceans research consortium about assessing the impacts of nodule mining on the deep-sea environment here.

Relevant, current NIOZ-projects:


MiningImpact | Environmental impacts and risks of deep-sea mining (2018-2022)
Work focuses on three major research interests concerning deep-sea mining at polymetallic nodule fields: (1) the larger scale environmental impact caused by the suspended sediment plume, (2) the regional connectivity of species and the biodiversity of biological assemblages and their resilience to impacts, and (3) the integrated effects on ecosystem functions, such as the benthic food-web and biogeochemical processes. Read the blog of the 2019 MiningImpact2-expedition. 

 

Blue harvesting
In the BLUE Harvesting project a consortium of 9 European partners from maritime industry and academia will design and build a hydraulic collector for harvesting polymetallic nodules from the deep sea, with the specific aim to minimize the environmental impact of the harvesting process.


Protecting deep seabed hydrothermal vent fields through area-based management tools.
This trans-disciplinary research project within environmental science and international law will assess the role of area-based management tools (ABMTs) in protecting hydrothermal vent fields against mining impacts. 
Read the blogs of the 2018 and 2019 expeditions to the hydrothermal Rainbow vent field.