Note from the Executive Secretary
Dr David Freestone
Executive Secretary
This is the beginning of a new era for open ocean conservation. The finalisation of the agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ agreement) is in some ways what the work of the Sargasso Sea Initiative has been leading up to for more than a decade.

One of the original purposes of the Initiative was to test a key question raised during discussions at the United Nations: could better implementation of existing agreements suffice to improve the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ)? Or was a new international agreement warranted?

In short, we found that a new international agreement was indeed warranted - and now the BBNJ agreement, which has been under negotiation since 2017, will provide a new foundation for the conservation of this iconic ecosystem. I am sure we all congratulate the delegates and the facilitators for their hard work and dedication.
Landmark BBNJ Agreement Finalised
"The ship has reached the shore," BBNJ president Rena Lee said after a marathon 38 hours of talks for an agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) concluded on March 4th, 2023.

This is the first internationally legally binding instrument for the high seas.

The BBNJ agreement will introduce a Conference of the Parties for the high seas. It will for the first time provide a legal framework for the international recognition of marine protected areas on the high seas and will supplement the legal framework of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to require Environmental Impact Assessments for new activities and provide a benefit sharing mechanism for marine genetic resources harvested from ABNJ. 

The agreement requires ratification by 60 States to bring it into force and it will open up new avenues for conservation as we seek to strengthen the stewardship of the Sargasso Sea under our work programmes for our Global Environment Facility and Fonds Français pour l'Environnement Mondial (FFEM) funded projects. You can read detailed reports of the negotiations below at Earth News Bulletin.

Image: Photo by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis
Kristina Gjerde receives Fred Packard Award
Dr Kristina Gjerde, President of the Board for Sargasso Sea Project, Inc. was presented with the Fred Packard Award by IUCN at IMPAC 5.

Dr Kristina Gjerde, a lawyer and Senior High Seas Advisor to the IUCN Secretariat, received the Fred Packard Award for her efforts to secure protection in international law for the ocean beyond national jurisdiction, over the course of three decades.

A global advocate for marine protected areas, she has authored over 150 publications and since 2002 has been instrumental in leading the WCPA High Seas Specialist Group (initially with Graham Kelleher and later Pat Halpin) to advance a global strategy for high seas marine protected areas. Alongside her work with IUCN, she co-founded many organisations working on the high seas, including the Sargasso Sea Initiative.

Image credit - IUCN
Sargasso Sea featured at IMPAC5 side event
Dr. David Freestone spoke as part of 'Charting a Path for the First Generation of High Seas Marine Protected Areas,' a side event hosted by the High Seas Alliance at the IMPAC 5 conference in Vancouver, Canada.

The event showcased several high seas areas with mature conservation efforts, including the Sargasso Sea, Emperor Seamounts, the Thermal Dome, and others. The event offered an opportunity for collaboration under the SARGADOM project, with Jorge Jiménez from Mar Viva also speaking.

Overarching science needs, capacity gaps, and facilitation needs for stakeholder engagement to bring conservation aims for the areas to fruition were discussed in closing remarks by Guillermo Ortuno Crespo, WCPA.


Image: Jessika Woroniak
Please consider taking our Common Oceans Programme survey
What do you know about the ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ)? We would really appreciate it if you could fill in this short survey - responses will help us focus our communications efforts as part of our GEF project in order to conserve ocean ABNJ, and it will take less than a minute!

Creature Feature
Your window into the golden floating rainforest and who's in it!
Sargassum frogfish
A creature feature on possibly the most iconic Sargassum endemic fish seemed fitting in the wake of the announcement of the finalisation of the BBNJ agreement.

The Sargassum frogfish is endemic to Sargassum and specialised to live its entire life within the algae. It is a master of camouflage in its colour and in the fleshy projections that grow from its body, mimicking weedy Sargassum.

Perhaps strangest of all, the Sargassum frogfish is able to crawl through the dense 'golden rainforest' where it makes its home with prehensile fins that can grasp the algae like hands. It is a voracious ambush predator that uses the fleshy esca on top of its head to lure in prey. They are suction feeders and can strike prey in a fraction of a second using jet propulsion, expelling water through specialised pores behind the pectoral fins. Their mouth is able to expand to swallow prey larger than themselves.

Chris Flook, boat and docks supervisor at Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and Sargassum explorer, says he always remembers the scientific name for the fish - Histrio histrio - "if you put something else in a tank with a Sargassum fish, it's history!"

Image: JP Rouja
Sargasso On-the-Go

Fae Sapsford, Marine Research Fellow for the Sargasso Sea Commission presented "Protecting the Sargasso Sea" as part of the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute's Island SOS series.

This paper analyses tools under the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to reduce the threats from international shipping in the marine environment including the high seas, with particular emphasis on the Costa Rica Thermal Dome.

Marine Research Fellow Fae Sapsford wrote an article for the Nonsuch Expeditions, founded by Sargasso Sea Ambassador JP Rouja, on the importance of imagery to bring awareness to the high seas treaty negotiations.
Thank you for supporting our mission to protect the Sargasso Sea. We truly appreciate all of the donations and support that we have received over the years -- without which the Sargasso Sea Commission would not exist.