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Trans-Tasman Resources Limited wants to extract 5 million tonnes of iron, titanium, and vanadium a year from the sea floor in the South Taranaki Bight. (File photo).
A new research paper on seabed mining from Japan has drawn alarming conclusions on the long term negative impact just hours of undersea mining activity can have on fish populations.
The study, by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan, was published on Saturday in the Current Biology journal.
In 2020, Japan performed the first successful deep sea mining test, extracting cobalt crusts from the top of undersea mountains – cobalt being a mineral used in electric vehicle batteries.
The researchers analysed data at the site on the Takuyo-Daigo seamount a month before, a month after, and a year after the mining test, which lasted just two hours.
One year after the mining test, researchers observed a 43% drop in fish and shrimp density in the areas directly impacted by sediment pollution from the mining activity.
However, they also noted a 56% drop in fish and shrimp density in surrounding areas.
While acknowledging there could be several possible explanations for the decreases, the researchers believed it could have been due to the mining test creating a plume that contaminated fish food sources.
Monique Ford/Stuff
Ngati Ruanui of Pātea protest in Parliament grounds in 2016 against Trans-Tasman Resources bid to get consent to mine the seabed off South Taranaki (file photo).
“I had assumed we wouldn’t see any changes because the mining test was so small,” first author Travis Washburn, a benthic ecologist who works closely with the Geological Survey of Japan, said.
“They drove the machine for two hours, and the sediment plume only travelled a few hundred metres, but it was actually enough to shift things.”
The researchers said they would need to repeat the study several times to gain a more accurate understanding of how deep-sea mining impacts the ocean floor.
Professor James Bell from the school of biological sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, said the study showed that even very small scale mining activity could have lasting impacts.
“Until we have a full understanding of what the impacts of mining are on these ecosystems, we should take a very cautious approach.”
Associate Professor Kat Bolstad from the department of Environmental Science at Auckland University of Technology said the effects of large-scale deep-sea mining were likely to “be substantial, longer lasting, and more complex than we can anticipate”.
An increasing number of countries (including Aotearoa) and indigenous groups were calling for a moratorium or outright ban on commercial-scale deep-sea mining, she said.
“Authorities are under great pressure to determine the future of this proposed industry, but I hope we will not rush into this.”
The research potenitally has implications for New Zealand, where an Environmental Protection Agency committee is deciding if an application by Trans-Tasman Resources Limited (TTR) to mine the seabed off South Taranaki will get the green light.
This follows years of court action between TTR and those that oppose it, led by Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui.
TTR initially gained consent, however that was overturned by the High Court in 2018 following appeals from parties including Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui and Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, a decision upheld by the Court of Appeal.
The Supreme Court agreed with the Court of Appeal’s decision, and the application was sent back to the Environmental Protection Authority for reconsideration in 2021.
TTR has sent updated material to the DMC, and would be taking submissions from other submitters until August 31.
The bid to mine the seabed had brought widespread opposition, including a petition signed by 35,000 New Zealanders calling for a complete ban, that was presented to Parliament in June last year.
Despite that petition, legislation launched by Te Pati Māori in May that would have banned seabed mining altogether, was voted down at first reading by Labour, National and Act.
The Japanese research paper was released just days after Canada joined a growing list of nations calling for a pause on deep-sea mining in international waters.
The Guardian reported that this followed a February announcement by the Canadian government that it would not authorise deep-sea mining in domestic waters amid concerns it did not have a legal framework in place to issue permits.
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