Rosanna Milligan

The extent and speed of marine environmental mapping is increasing quickly with technological advances, particularly with optical imaging from autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). This contribution describes a new deep‐sea digital still camera system that takes high‐frequency (>1 Hz) color photographs of the seafloor, suitable for detailed biological and habitat assessment, and the means of efficient processing of this mass imagery, to allow assessment across a wide range of spatial scales from that of individual megabenthic organisms to landscape scales (>100 km 2 ). As part of the Autonomous Ecological Surveying of the Abyss (AESA) project, the AUV Autosub6000 obtained > 150,000 seafloor images (~160 km total transect length) to investigate the distribution of megafauna on the Porcupine Abyssal Plain (4850 m; NE Atlantic). An automated workflow for image processing was developed that corrected nonuniform illumination and color, geo‐referenced the photographs, and produced 10‐image mosaics ('tiles,' each representing a continuous strip of 15‐20 m 2 of seafloor), with overlap between consecutive images removed. These tiles were then manually annotated to generate biological data. This method was highly advantageous compared with alternative techniques, greatly increasing the rate of image acquisition and providing a 10‐50 fold increase in accuracy in comparison to trawling. The method also offers more precise density and biodiversity estimates [Coefficient of variation (CV) < 10%] than alternative techniques, with a 2‐fold improvement in density estimate precision compared with the WASP towed camera system. Ultimately, this novel system is expected to make valuable contributions to understanding human impact in the deep ocean.

The ocean plays a crucial role in the functioning of the Earth System and in the provision of vital goods and services. The United Nations (UN) declared 2021–2030 as the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The Roadmap for the Ocean Decade aims to achieve six critical societal outcomes (SOs) by 2030, through the pursuit of four objectives (Os). It specifically recognizes the scarcity of biological data for deep-sea biomes, and challenges the global scientific community to conduct research to advance understanding of deep-sea ecosystems to inform sustainable management. In this paper, we map four key scientific questions identified by the academic community to the Ocean Decade SOs: (i) What is the diversity of life in the deep ocean? (ii) How are populations and habitats connected? (iii) What is the role of living organisms in ecosystem function and service provision? and (iv) How do species, communities, and ecosystems respond to disturbance? We then consider the design of a global-scale program to address these questions by reviewing key drivers of ecological pattern and process. We recommend using the following criteria to stratify a global survey design: biogeographic region, depth, horizontal distance, substrate type, high and low climate hazard, fished/unfished, near/far from sources of pollution, licensed/protected from industry activities. We consider both spatial and temporal surveys, and emphasize new biological data collection that prioritizes southern and polar latitudes, deeper (> 2000 m) depths, and midwater environments. We provide guidance on observational, experimental, and monitoring needs for different benthic and pelagic ecosystems. We then review recent efforts to standardize biological data and specimen collection and archiving, making “sampling design to knowledge application” recommendations in the context of a new global program. We also review and comment on needs, and recommend actions, to develop capacity in deep-sea research; and the role of inclusivity - from accessing indigenous and local knowledge to the sharing of technologies - as part of such a global program. We discuss the concept of a new global deep-sea biological research program ‘ Challenger 150 ,’ highlighting what it could deliver for the Ocean Decade and UN Sustainable Development Goal 14.

The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development presents an exceptional opportunity to effect positive change in ocean use. We outline what is required of the deep-sea research community to achieve these ambitious objectives.The roadmap for this Ocean Decade recognizes the deep sea as a frontier of science and discovery, and calls for research to advance understanding of deep-sea ecosystems, their functions, vulnerabilities and services to society.

We present the first remotely operated vehicle investigation of megabenthic communities (1004-1695 m water depth) on the Hebrides Terrace Seamount (Northeast Atlantic). Conductivity-temperature-depth casts showed rapid light attenuation below the summit and an oceanographic regime on the flanks consistent with an internal tide, and high short-term variability in water temperature, salinity, light attenuation, aragonite and oxygen down to 1500 m deep. Minor changes in species composition (3-14%) were explained by changes in depth, substratum and oceanographic stability, whereas environmental variability explained substantially more variation in species richness (40-56%). Two peaks in species richness occurred, the first at 1300-1400 m where cooler Wyville Thomson Overflow Water (WTOW) mixes with subtropical gyre waters and the second at 1500-1600 m where WTOW mixes with subpolar mode waters. Our results suggest that internal tides, substrate heterogeneity and oceanographic interfaces may enhance biological diversity on this and adjacent seamounts in the Rockall Trough.

The deep sea is the world's largest ecosystem, with high levels of biodiversity and many species that exhibit life-history characteristics that make them vulnerable to high levels of exploitation. Many fisheries in the deep sea have a track record of being unsustainable. In the northeast Atlantic, there has been a decline in the abundance of commercial fish species since deep-sea fishing commenced in the 1970s. Current management is by effort restrictions and total allowable catch (TAC), but there remain problems with compliance and high levels of bycatch of vulnerable species such as sharks. The European Union is currently considering new legislation to manage deep-sea fisheries, including the introduction of a depth limit to bottom trawling. However, there is little evidence to suggest an appropriate depth limit. Here we use survey data to show that biodiversity of the demersal fish community, the ratio of discarded to commercial biomass, and the ratio of Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) to commercial biomass significantly increases between 600 and 800 m depth while commercial value decreases. These results suggest that limiting bottom trawling to a maximum depth of 600 m could be an effective management strategy that would fit the needs of European legislations such as the Common Fisheries Policy (EC no. 1380/2013) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC).