The environmental effects of deep-seabed mining can only be managed within acceptable limits if they are effectively monitored. To achieve this for deep-seabed mining in international waters, four critical components first need to be addressed by the International Seabed Authority: baseline knowledge, indicators and thresholds, area-based management tools, and technical capabilities.
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Acknowledgements
D.J.A. received funding from UC Santa Barbara’s Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory. The funders had no role in study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of data, or the writing of this manuscript.
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Amon, D.J., Kaikkonen, L., Lily, H. et al. Improved environmental monitoring is essential to regulate deep-seabed mining. Nat. Rev. Biodivers. 1, 563–564 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44358-025-00080-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44358-025-00080-7
