Ocean Resources: Volume I: Assessment and Utilisation

Today western nations consume annually only a small percentage of their resources from the sea, despite the proclamation of Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) by many. In contrast, most Pacific Basin Countries obtain more than a quarter of their annual needs from the ocean. Determination of greater rewards from the development of marine resources is markedly inhibited by the limited technical abilities available to locate and assess them. Knowledge of Exclusive Economic Zone resources is schematic and generalised, and a detailed understanding of the geology and processes relating to the economic use of the seafloor is both fragmentary and very basic. Technology for mapping the mineral resources of continental shelves and ocean areas, except in active offshore hydrocarbon provinces, has been largely developed in pursuit of scientific objectives and competence to rapidly appraise economic potential is limited. Similarly, the capability to characterise and evaluate the other resources of the seas is rudimentary. The development of ocean resources will become increasingly urgent as the growth of the world population and the depletion of land reserves combine to enhance demand. Also, increasing environmental constraints will limit the availability of traditional land-based resources; nevertheless, new offshore development must proceed in a manner whereby the marine environment is not plundered but protected and conserved. The challenge to develop ocean resources with responsible environmental stewardship will require greater leadership than the development of the technologies of exploitation.

Table of Contents:
I Legal Regime.- 1 The Impact of the Law of the Sea on Ocean Resource Development and Ocean Resource Technology.- II Geological Assessment.- 2 The US EEZ Program: Information and Technology Needs.- 3 The Potential Resources of the Sea Areas around the Remaining Dependencies of the United Kingdom.- 4 Investigating France’s EEZ: Mapping and Technology.- 5 Development of the Gloria System for More Effective EEZ Reconnaissance.- 6 Efficient Hydrographic Surveying of EEZ with New Multibeam Echosounder Technology for Shallow and Deep Water.- 7 Engineering Solutions for Deepwater Foundation Problems Using Integrated Investigations.- III Geological Utilization.- 8 Overview of Mineral Resources in the EEZ.- 9 The Assessment of Aggregate Resources from the U.K. Continental Shelf.- 10 Exploitation of Marine Aggregates and Calcareous Sands.- 11 Mapping, Evaluation and Exploitation of Resources and Conditions in Danish Domestic Waters.- 12 The Baltic Marine Environment as a Source of Aggregates, and as a Recipient of Dredged Material.- 13 A Case Study of the Minerals on the Seabed of the West Coast of India.- IV Ocean Renewable Energy.- 14 Renewable Energy from the Ocean.- 15 Wave Energy Technology Assessment.- 16 OTEC Developments Out of Europe.- 17 Energy from the Oceans: A mall Land Based Ocean Thermal Energy Plant.- 18 A Status Assessment of OTEC Technology.- V Living Resources.- 19 Living Marine Resources, Technology and the Extended Economic Zone.- 20 Fisheries Acoustics: Assessment of Fish Stocks and Observation of Fish Behaviour.- VI Space Utilization and Opportunities.- 21 The Ocean Enterprise Concept.- 22 Future Ocean Space Utilization in Japan.- 23 The Use of the Environment in the Design of Deep Ocean Water Resource Systems.- VII Environmental Assessment.- 24 ObtainingPast Trends in Marine Environmental Conditions with Contemporary Data.- 25 Potential Use of Circulation/Pollutant Transport Models for Impact Assessment on the U.S. EEZ.- 26 Environmental Assessment for Exclusive Economic Zone Mineral Development Activities: The Lessons Learned from Offshore Oil and Gas Development.