The lack of deep sea marine taxonomy is a major impediment for assessing deep sea marine biodiversity. Firstly, existing lists of species collected in the deep sea do not provide the required information to undertake basic ecological assessment of deep sea biodiversity. Secondly, such scientific gap increases the risk that the required environmental management plans that need to be developed will not address effectively the vulnerability of deep sea habitats of the Area.

In view of the above, the ISA is committed to work towards the establishment of public accessible atlases regrouping scientifically classified species collected on the international seabed area. These atlases will be defined by habitat according to the different types of minerals that are explored. Accordingly, specific atlases will be produces to reflect the specificities of each ocean basin.

It is anticipated that this initiative will be a unique opportunity to gather up-to-date information with a view to offering an evolving tool to guide contractors and the scientific community in the assessment of deep sea marine biodiversity of the Area.