Concept Note for the GEF-7 Child Project on "Building and Enhancing Sectoral and Cross-Sectoral Capacity to Support Sustainable Resource Use and Biodiversity Conservation in Marine Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction" (the Cross-Sectoral Project). 

Concept Note for the GEF-7 Child Project on " Strengthening the Stewardship of an Economically and Biologically Significant High Seas Area – the Sargasso Sea" (the Sargasso Sea Project). 

Concept Note for the GEF-7 Child Project on "Global Coordination for the Common Oceans ABNJ Program" (the Global Coordination Project).

Far from land, outside national boundaries, marine Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction or common oceans make up 40% of our planet. They hold 95% of our oceans’ water, and host some of the world’s most complex ecosystems. Ecosystems that help control climate, boost food security and help people make a living. Using common oceans resources sustainably and responsibly is challenging, but achievable. With the Global Environmental Fund’s support, FAO’s Common Oceans Programme is working with a wide range of partners to sustainably use and protect these fragile marine ecosystems.

Deep Sea Fisheries (DSF) occur at great depths in the Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) and constitute a small fraction of global fisheries; however, DSF are often highly valuable, generating up to USD 620 million annually. Interest in deep sea species has led to concerns about their enhanced vulnerability as a result of increased fishing activities and the potential damage caused by bottom contact fishing gears to fragile benthic ecosystems like coral reefs and sponge grounds. Although significant progress has been made in promoting sustainable DSF and protecting biodiversity in the ABNJ, the pace and scope of management measures and scientific understanding needs to be expanded, given the known vulnerability of deep sea fish stocks, associated bycatch species and habitats. Greater international and consumer pressure, as well as raised awareness and readiness for action among stakeholders, are now creating favourable conditions for acting decisively in support of the implementation of relevant policy and legal frameworks that are strengthening spatial planning and control measures, including the improved protection of sensitive areas such as vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs). The main objective of this project one of four projects making up the Global Environment Facility financed Program on Global Sustainable Fisheries Management and Biodiversity Conservation in ABNJ was to achieve efficiency and sustainability in the use of deep sea living resources and improving biodiversity conservation in the ABNJ. It aimed to achieve this through the systematic application of an ecosystem approach to: ( i ) improving sustainable management practices for DSF, taking into account the impacts on related ecosystems, (ii) improving the protection of VMEs and enhanced conservation and management of components of ecologically and biologically significant areas and (iii) testing area based planning tools for deep sea ecosystems.