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Access to Marine Genetic Resources (MGR): Raising Awareness of Best-Practice Through a New Agreement for Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ)
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2019-09-03
Submitted Date
2019-10-01
Subject Terms
marine genetic resources (MGR)
data standards
open access
taxonomy
biodiversity
access and benefit-sharing (ABS)
conservation
areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ)
data standards
open access
taxonomy
biodiversity
access and benefit-sharing (ABS)
conservation
areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ)
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Abstract
Better scientific knowledge of the poorly-known deep sea and areas beyond national
jurisdiction (ABNJ) is key to its conservation, an urgent need in light of increasing
environmental pressures. Access to marine genetic resources (MGR) for the biodiversity
research community is essential to allow these environments to be better characterised.
Negotiations have commenced under the auspices of the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to develop a new treaty to further the conservation
and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in ABNJ. It is timely to consider the
relevant issues with the development of the treaty underway. Currently uncertainties
surround the legal definition of MGR and scope of related benefit-sharing, against a
background of regional and global governance gaps in ABNJ. These complications are
mirrored in science, with recent major advances in the field of genomics, but variability
in handling of the resulting increasing volumes of data. Here, we attempt to define
the concept of MGR from a scientific perspective, review current practices for the
generation of and access to MGR from ABNJ in the context of relevant regulations, and
illustrate the utility of best-practice with a case study. We contribute recommendations
with a view to strengthen best-practice in accessibility of MGR, including: funder
recognition of the central importance of taxonomy/biodiversity research; support of
museums/collections for long-term sample curation; open access to data; usage and
further development of globally recognised data standards and platforms; publishing
of datasets via open-access, quality controlled and standardised data systems and
open access journals; commitment to best-practice workflows; a global registry of cruises; and lastly development of a clearing house to further centralised access to the
above. We argue that commitment to best-practice would allow greater sharing of MGR
for research and extensive secondary use including conservation and environmental
monitoring, and provide an exemplar for access and benefit-sharing (ABS) to inform the
biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) process.
Citation
Rabone M, Harden-Davies H, Collins JE, Zajderman S, Appeltans W, Droege G, Brandt A, Pardo-Lopez L, Dahlgren TG, Glover AG and Horton T (2019) Access to Marine Genetic Resources (MGR): Raising Awareness of Best-Practice Through a New Agreement for Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ). Front. Mar. Sci. 6:520
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Copyright © 2019 Rabone, Harden-Davies, Collins, Zajderman, Appeltans, Droege,
Brandt, Pardo-Lopez, Dahlgren, Glover and Horton. This is an open-access article
distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).
The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the
original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original
publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No
use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
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2296-7745