Welcome

This is the electronic book version of Valuing the Deep. Valuing the Deep is a report commissioned by the UK Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in 2014 to inform preparations for what is now the new draft oceans treaty on marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ or BBNJ), that is the world’s deep oceans. Valuing the Deep explores the landscape of scientific research and patent activity for marine genetic resources and maps the who, what and where of scientific research and patent activity in the world deep oceans. We also consulted with experts in marine research to identify potential ways forward. As the negotiations move towards a conclusion there is a need to maintain a clear focus on evidence based descision-making. Valuing the Deep is part of that evidence base.

Figure 0.1: Available GBIF coordinates for 3,452 marine species appearing in patent data (Oldham & Hall 2013)

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Andreas Kroh and Dr. Sabine Stohr and the WoRMS Data Management Team for making the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) available for patent searches. We thank Dr. Maria Baker and the International Network for Scientific Investigation of the Deep-Sea (INDEEP) for their invaluable assistance in the realisation of the Valuing the Deep Delphi Study. We thank the Patent Landscaping Group at the WIPO Secretariat for providing WIPO patent data on PCT applications with sequence listings. We thank Dr. Marjo Vierros at United Nations University for providing access to personal research results that assisted with cross-checking computational approaches. Responsibility for the contents of this report and any errors or omissions rests entirely with the authors.

The electronic version of Valuing the Deep was prepared by Jasmine Kindness for One World Analytics using the bookdown package in R with RStudio [1,2].

The electronic book version of the report was prepared as part of the Biospolar Project funded by the Research Council of Norway (RCN project number 257631/E10).

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this report are entirely the authors’ own and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of the UK Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs or the Research Council of Norway.

Suggested Citation

Oldham, P; Hall, S; Barnes, C; Oldham, C; Cutter, AM; Burns, N; Kindness, L (2014) Valuing the Deep: Marine Genetic Resources in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. DEFRA Contract MB0128. London: DEFRA. DOI: 10.13140/2.1.2612.5605. URL: http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=12289_ValuingTheDeepDEFRAFinalVersionOne28092014.pdf

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