• Pacific Ring of Fire Expedition. A close up view of tubeworms at a seafloor hot spring on Daikoku volcano. These animals only live at hydrothermal vents. Mariana Arc region, Western Pacific Ocean. April, 2004.

     

    Hydrothermal-
    quellen

     

    Hydrothermal Vents

  • A map of a seamount in the Arctic Ocean created by NOAA's Office of Coast Survey by gathering data with a multibeam echo sounder.

    Wissenschaftliche

    Meeresforschung

    Scientific

    Research

  • With NOAA's predicted, real-time, and forecasted currents, people can safely dock and undock ships, maneuver them in confined waterways, and safely navigate through coastal waters. This helps to avoid ship collisions or delay the arrival of goods.

     

    Seeverkehr

     

    Maritime Shipping

  • Pacific Ring of Fire Expedition. White chimneys at Champagne vent site, NW Eifuku volcano. The chimneys are ~20 cm (8 in) across and ~50 cm (20 in) high, venting fluids at 103§C (217§F). Notice the bubbles in the upper left side of the image. Mariana Arc region, Western Pacific Ocean. April, 2004.

     

    Hydrothermal-
    quellen

     

    Hydrothermal Vents

  • East Coast of Scotland at a spot called Pease Bay.

     

    Meeresschutz-
    gebiete

     

    Marine Protected Areas

  • Colorful nudibranch (Shell-less mollusk) at Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctury.

    Marine

    Lebensräume

    Marine

    Habitats

  • Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm.

    Offshore

    Windenergie

    Offshore

    Wind Energy

  • Juvenile green sea turtle underneath the Midway Island Pier in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

    Marine

    Lebensräume

    Marine

    Habitats

  • Iron and silica rich chimneys on the summit of Giggenbach volcano are evidence of warm springs that were active at this site in the past. New Zealand, Kermadec Arc. April 18, 2005.

    Mineralische

    Meeresressourcen

    Mineral

    Resources

  • An iceberg captured on camera during a 30-day mission in 2012 to map areas of the Arctic aboard the NOAA Ship Fairweather.

    Arktis

    Antarktis

    Arctic

    Antarctic

Marine Genetic Resources

The legal aspects of the exploration for and exploitation of marine genetic resources is one of the research focus of the Institute for the Law of the Sea and International Marine Environmental Law (ISRIM). 

In the context of the European Maritime Day 2013 we have organised a workshop on this very topic in co-operation with the University of Applied Sciences Bremerhaven. The presentations of the workshop on "Legal Aspects of Blue Growth: Exploration for and Exploitation of Mineral Resources and of Genetic Resources in Areas beyond National Jurisdiction" are available on our YouTube Channel. In 2015 we presented "International Intellectual Property Rights Issues Regarding Marine Genetic Resources" at the 7th Rendez-Vouz de Concarneau: "Where Industry meets Science in Marine Biotechnology" from 15-16 October 2015 in Concarneau, France. At the workshop "Exploitation and Legal Aspects on Marine Genetic and Chemical Resources" from 4-5 April 2016 in Naples of the European Marine Research Network (EUROMARINE), we will present "International Intellectual Property Rights & Access and Benefit Sharing".

The outcome of our research has been published in the following contributions:

  • Genetic Resources of the Sea, in: David Attard, Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Norman A. Martínez Gutiérrez (Hrsg.), IMLI Manual on International Maritime Law, Vol. 1 "The Law of the Sea", Oxford University Press 2014, pp. 377-395
  • Bioprospecting, Marine Scientific Research and the Patentability of Genetic Resources, in: Norman A. Martínez Gutiérrez (Hrsg.), Serving the Rule of International Maritime Law: Essays in Honour of Professor David Joseph Attard, Routledge 2010, pp. 119-128


Additional to our research activities we are regularly contributing to the academic programme "Maritime Technologies" at the University of Applied Sciences Bremerhaven.

Please visit our discussion group "Legal Aspects of Marine Mineral and Genetic Resources" at the UNESCO-Nature World Library of Science.