World Ocean Assessment II, Chapter 23, Developments in the exploration for and use of marine genetic resources

KEYNOTE POINTS 1. Marine genetic resources continue to be the focus of an expanding range of commercial and non-commercial applications. 2. Rapidly decreasing sequencing and gene synthesis costs and swift advances in the metabolic engineering and synthetic biology fields within the biotechnology sector have rendered scientists less reliant on physical samples and increasingly dependent on the exponentially expanding public databases of genetic sequence data. 3. Sponges and algae continue to attract substantial interest for the bioactive properties of their natural compounds. 4. Within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, capacity-building issues persist, with entities in a handful of countries conducting the majority of research and development associated with marine genetic resources. 5. International processes and agreements with relevance to marine genetic resources include the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Inter-Governmental Conference on an international legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.Versión del edito

Towards a common approach to the assessment of the environmental status of deep-sea ecosystems in areas beyond national jurisdiction

Many of the marine policy frameworks developed to protect biodiversity in deep-sea areas, including areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), include indicators to assess policy objectives. These frameworks often have specific guidance on how the indicators should be applied and interpreted. Selection of indicators is an important process and those with strong scientific underpinnings are more likely to produce the expected outcomes. We reviewed three policy and assessment frameworks which include ABNJ regions or were developed specifically for ABNJ: (1) Oslo and Paris Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) ecosystem assessments, (2) the frameworks adopted to implement the UN General Assembly (UNGA) sustainable fisheries resolutions for the management of bottom fisheries to prevent Significant Adverse Impacts on vulnerable marine ecosystems, and (3) the Aichi Biodiversity Targets adopted by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). We examined whether an assessment approach based on evaluation of Good Environmental Status (GES) under the European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), could be applied to ABNJ. We examined each MSFD descriptor for its applicability to deep-sea habitats considering the work of two European projects concluding that the MSFD could be applied to ABNJ to support OSPAR, UNGA and CBD policy objectives towards a common approach to the assessment of the status of deep-sea ecosystems in ABNJ. In achieving this we also introduce readers outside of Europe to the work conducted within the MSFD

Developments in the exploration for and use of marine genetic resources

The ocean is home to a vast diversity of life forms constituting a rich source of marine genetic resources, that is, genetic material of marine origin containing functional units of heredity of actual or potential value, characterized by high biological and chemical diversity (Appeltans and others, 2012; United Nations, 2017). Over 34,000 marine natural products have been described, with recent discovery rates reaching more than 1,000 compounds each year (Lindequist, 2016; Carroll and others, 2019). A total of 188 new marine natural products from deep-sea organisms (Bryozoa, Chordata, Cnidaria, Echinodermata, Mollusca, Porifera and microbes) have been described since 2008 (Skropeta and Wei, 2014). Approximately 75 per cent of those novel products have remarkable bioactivity, with 50 per cent exhibiting moderate to high cytotoxicity towards a range of human cancer cell lines. Although the bioactivity of many marine natural products suggests high potential for drug discovery, only 13 marine-derived drugs have gained market approval to date (Liang and others, 2019; Mayer and others, 2010).5 However, at the time of writing, 28 candidates were in clinical trials (Alves and others, 2018). Marine antifoulant research is currently focused on identifying viable non-toxic substances, and a recent review has estimated that more than 198 antifouling compounds have been obtained from marine invertebrates, specifically sponges, gorgonians and soft corals (Qi and Ma, 2017), in addition to the products derived from macroalgae and microalgae highlighted in the first World Ocean Assessment (United Nations, 2017). Innovative research has also identified ingredients from discarded fish that are suitable for use in high-end cosmetics and a number of other products (Young, 2014). As of 2018, a total of 76 publicly available cosmeceutical ingredients from marine natural products had been marketed, reflecting a new growth sector (Calado and others, 2018). At the same time, consumer demand for nutraceuticals has increased rapidly, as foreseen in the first Assessment. The global nutraceutical market is expected to reach $580 billion by 2025, more than triple the$180 billion projected for 2017 in the first Assessment, and market growth has been linked to increased innovation and consumer awareness (Grand 6 See Midwestern University, “Clinical Pipeline, Marine Pharmacology”. View Research, 2017). Marine nutraceutical products such as fish oil and collagen represent a large portion of the global market, and demand for those products is expected to grow in the Asia-Pacific region, in particular in China and India (Suleria and others, 2015). While marine genetic resources are of growing importance to the global blue economy, most commercial activity is concentrated in a comparatively small number of countries, suggesting that there is potential for technology transfer and capacity-building (Thompson and others, 2017; Blasiak and others, 2018). Several international processes addressing genetic resources, including marine genetic resources, are currently under way.United NationsEn prens