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Areas beyond national jurisdiction, or the high seas, are vital to life on Earth. However, the conservation of these areas, for example, through area‐based management tools (ABMTs), is challenging, particularly when accounting for global change. Using decision science, integrated population models, and a Critically Endangered seabird (Kuaka; Pelecanoides whenuahouensis) as a case study, we evaluated potential ABMTs in the high seas under global change and different governance structures, while accounting for uncertainty and imperfect compliance. Our study highlighted that global change in these areas will likely cause population declines of ∼60% by 2050. However, decisive conservation action could cost‐effectively address predicted declines, particularly when implemented as soon as possible and under the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty. We illustrate how decision science can transparently navigate a complex seascape of management decisions and we advocate for its wider integration in the management of the largest sections of our planet, the high seas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Areas beyond national jurisdiction, or the high seas, are vital to life on Earth. However, the conservation of these areas, for example, through area‐based management tools (ABMTs), is challenging, particularly when accounting for global change. Using decision science, integrated population models, and a Critically Endangered seabird (Kuaka; Pelecanoides whenuahouensis) as a case study, we evaluated potential ABMTs in the high seas under global change and different governance structures, while accounting for uncertainty and imperfect compliance. Our study highlighted that global change in these areas will likely cause population declines of ∼60% by 2050. However, decisive conservation action could cost‐effectively address predicted declines, particularly when implemented as soon as possible and under the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty. We illustrate how decision science can transparently navigate a complex seascape of management decisions and we advocate for its wider integration in the management of the largest sections of our planet, the high seas.

In 1995, the so-called "turbot war" between Spain and Canada was pivotal for Iberian fisheries. The main objective of this research is to revisit the turbot war to reflect on the issue of governing fisheries on the high seas, the cause behind the war, and how it was resolved. This paper provides guidelines for future research on the management of high seas fisheries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Covering nearly half of the Earth׳s surface, the high seas provide a diverse range of ecosystem services crucial to human well-being and the health of both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. At the same time, the vastness of the high seas and the limitations of corresponding governance instruments present a considerable challenge to policy-makers working to promote sustainable management. This report reviews new developments in sustainable management of the oceans, including the high seas, which has often focused primarily on fishing regulations, while lacking broader consideration of marine ecosystem services and material cycles. In addition, an overview is provided of paradigms for assessing and managing marine systems. Enhanced interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral communication based on clear definitions is needed to achieve deeper understanding of marine ecosystems and the services they provide. Experts discussed these and other issues on October 1, 2013 within the context of an international symposium held at the University of Tokyo on the “Future Management of Ocean Ecosystem Services”. This manuscript provides a brief overview of these discussions together with supplementary background material. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract The absence of an internationally agreed definition for marine scientific research (MSR), coupled with the high seas freedom status of 'scientific research', raise, inter alia, questions of marine environmental protection on the high seas. The international community finds it particularly difficult to deal with activities on the high seas generally and especially so when these involve high seas freedoms. This difficulty, usually described as one of high seas governance, is manifesting itself in a growing range of contexts, and constitutes one of the principal challenges now facing the LOSC. This article briefly describes the response by the parties to the London Convention 1972 and its 1996 Protocol to a MSR activity proposed to be conducted on the high seas, highlights certain implications of this response for MSR specifically and high seas freedoms generally, and suggests a consequent way forward in addressing the broader high seas governance issues under the LOSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how marine biodiversity and genetic resources in the high seas can be protected and whether their exploitation should be regulated. As to their protection, it raises the question whether existing sectoral approaches should continue or to create a new mechanism based on an integrated approach. In accordance with the European Union's position, the latter is favoured, while acknowledging that several States still have reservations and question the need for new legal instruments. Concerning the necessity of a regulatory scheme governing their exploitation, existing mechanisms under the Law of the Sea Convention and the Convention on Biological Diversity are examined and it is concluded that they are not applicable or do not provide for specific rules on this issue. It is further presumed that the resulting absence of a clear framework is acceptable because the potential of commercial exploitation is still uncertain, so that there will only be scientific research without vital negative impact on the marine environment in the near future. It is suggested that the international community should rather focus on defining the legal status of genetic resources and clarifying whether they belong to the common heritage of mankind and require a benefit-sharing system, as proposed by developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]