Deep-sea genetic resources and the interest of the biotechnology industry in their exploitation are emerging as a significant challenge for international oceans governance. This book is the first comprehensive examination of this issue and explores its relationship with marine scientific research and other activities in the deep sea. As well as a detailed survey of the state of industry interest in this new field of biotechnology it also sets out proposals for future sustainable management of these resources utilizing many existing international law and policy regimes.

The Law of the Seabed reviews the most pressing legal questions raised by the use and protection of natural resources on and underneath the world’s seabeds. While barely accessible, the seabed plays a major role in the Earth’s ecological balance. It is both a medium and a resource, and is central to the blue economy. New uses and new knowledge about seabed ecosystems, and the risks of disputes due to competing interests, urge reflection on which regulatory approaches to pursue. The regulation of ocean activities is essentially sector-based, and the book puts in parallel the international and national regimes for seabed mining, oil and gas, energy generation, bottom fisheries, marine genetic resources, carbon sequestration and maritime security operations, both within and beyond the national jurisdiction. The book contains seven parts respectively addressing the definition of the seabed from a multidisciplinary perspective, the principles of jurisdiction delimitation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the regimes for use of non-living, living and marine biodiversity resources, the role of state and non-state actors, the laying and removal of installations, the principles for sustainable and equitable use (common heritage of mankind, precaution, benefit sharing), and management tools to ensure coexistence between activities as well as the protection of the marine environment.

New Knowledge and Changing Circumstances in the Law of the Sea focuses on the challenges posed to the existing legal framework, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the various ways in which States are addressing these challenges.

Global Commons and the Law of the Sea respectively addresses the principle of the common heritage of mankind (CHM), freedoms of high seas, deep sea mining and international seabed, area beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) governance, management of geoengineering and generic resources, and recent developments in the polar regions.

ÔAn insightful guide to some key developments in the international governance of genetic resources. Exploration of the central role of state sovereignty in current approaches aids understanding of the impact that the socio-economic and political context has on the content and direction of rules in this area. The book includes extensive information on the influence of treaty regimes that are often marginal to or absent from other analyses of genetic resource governance (outer space, seas and oceans, and Antarctica).Õ Ð Catherine Rhodes, The University of Manchester, UK This detailed and concise book surveys the international genetic resources laws applying in Antarctica, space, the oceans and seas, the lands, and the airspaces above land and water. The well-structured analysis traces the evolution of these various schemes and their contributions to the comprehensive arrangements under the Convention on Biological Diversity, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the World Health OrganizationÕs PIP Framework. The book details the different avenues and concluded positions, documenting a laboratory of legal approaches and possibilities. Regulating Genetic Resources will be a valuable addition to academics, governments, NGOs and students in environmental and intellectual property law.

This paper examines both the legal status of marine genetic resources located on the deep-sea bed (MGRs) in international law and the legal regime of intellectual property rights (IPRs), specifically drawing attention to patents on inventions that may derive from MGRs' exploitation. In this endeavor, it analyses the legal status of MGRs at the juncture of three overlapping legal regimes: the Law of the Sea Convention, the TRIPs Agreement, and the Convention of Biological Diversity (including the recently adopted Nagoya Protocol). Against the backdrop of this analysis, the article concludes with the suggestion for an ad hoc regime that manages MGRs and guarantees intellectual property rights.