Volume 2 of the Proceedings of the Deep Sea 2003 Conference both complement and supplement the papers that are presented in Volume 1 and underpin the Report on the Conference. Volume 1 ran to 718 pages and putting the papers that presenters developed from their posters and the papers and syntheses from the pre-Conference workshops into a second volume seemed the most practical approach.
The need for a poster session at the Queenstown Conference arose from the decision of the Programme Committee to avoid breakout sessions during the main period of the Conference. Not surprisingly there was great interest in presenting the results of deep-sea research and the results of related work on governance and it was decided that the most practical way to accommodate this desire was through a poster session. Those who presented posters at the Queenstown were invited to expand their presentations and the papers of those who wished to do so are presented in the first part of this second proceedings volume.
The Programme Committee had concluded that the four and a half days scheduled for the Conference would mean that discussions and treatment of issues and problems would necessarily be synoptic and thus render difficult addressing all issues in detail. Thus, it was decided to hold several separate workshops on topics of relevance to the Conference theme. Four such workshops addressed the topics of:
Bioprospecting in the High Seas
These workshops were held in Dunedin at the University of Otago, from 27 to 29 November, just prior to DEEP SEA 2003. Because of the relevance of these workshops to the Conference's objectives, those presenting papers in the Dunedin meetings were invited to provide a paper based on their presentation for inclusion in the Conference Proceedings. While few papers have been provided by participants to the Workshop on Assessment and Management of Deepwater Fisheries there are many contributions from the other three workshops. The papers presented at the four workshops form the second part of this volume. Those interested in this topic and who have not read the contributions in the main Conference proceedings of Volume 1 are strongly encouraged to do so.
As for Volume 1, the task of preparing the various papers for publication as well as the follow-up correspondence with contributors has been undertaken through the endeavours of my secretary, Ms Marie-Thérèse Magnan, FIRM, FAO, Rome for which I am most grateful.
Ross Shotton
Editor, Conference Proceedings
Marine Resources Service
Fisheries Department, FAO
Rome, Italy
1 FAO 2005. Report on DEEP SEA 2003, an International Conference on Governance and Management of Deep-sea Fisheries. Queenstown, New Zealand, 1–5 December 2003. FAO Fisheries Report No.772. Rome. 84pp.
