P. Rouja

The protection and management of the Sargasso Sea- The Summary Science and Supporting Evidence Case remains under confidential review by both the Government of Bermuda and the UK Foreign Commonwealth Office. We look forward to distributing it widely as soon as possible and appreciate your patience as we respect these important protocols.

The Science Case was a successful collaboration involving over 74 collaborators from over 10 countries and 11 science institutions and was led over the past year by Professor Howard Roe, Chair of the Sargasso Sea Alliance Senior Science Advisory Committee and Dan Laffoley, Marine Vice Chair of the World Commission on Protected Areas. Thanks again to our numerous authors and reviewers for providing input and comments on this report.

In addition to waiting for any government response, we are in the process of identifying areas for further scientific research, primarily focused on specific applied research questions that directly relate to potential proposed measures at the International Maritime Organization (in relation to shipping, cruise lines and associated discharges) and at regional fisheries management entities for fisheries and fisheries-habitat/Sargassum related measures.

Professor Howard Roe will also be presenting information on the Sargasso Sea at the upcoming American Society for Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), in Salt Lake City in February.

As Bermuda is an Overseas Territory of the UK, formal diplomatic relations with other countries has been on hold as we produced the Science Case. Formal outreach will begin once Bermuda has approval from the UK Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO), which is expected sometime this winter. In the meantime, we have made substantial progress increasing the visibility and profile of the Sargasso Sea at international fora and have opened lines of communications across sectors representing activities in the Sargasso Sea.

The Marine Programme of the World Heritage Convention Secretariat is actively considering the Sargasso Sea as one of the first High Seas areas to warrant World Heritage inscription.

Four individuals will be attending the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)'s Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSA) Regional Workshop in Brazil in February 2012. We're pleased to be supporting Dan Laffoley- WCPA/IUCN, Jeff Ardron- Marine Conservation Institute, Dr. Joanna Pitt- Bermuda Department of Environmental Protection, and Dr. Ricardo Santos- Portugal, at this meeting. If successful, this meeting will submit a recommendation through the CBD process, culminating in designation of the Sargasso Sea as an EBSA at the next Conference of Parties (COP) meeting in October 2012, illustrating the global recognition of the importance of this unique ecosystem.

Following a side event held at the International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting in July 2011, Kristina Gjerde, Chair of the Sargasso Sea Alliance Legal Work Group, Dr. David Freestone, SSA Executive Director and Kate Morrison, SSA Project Officer, have had meetings with the World Shipping Council (WSC), the World Ocean Council, the Chamber of Shipping of America (CSA), the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA), and the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) to introduce our objectives and begin exploring ways to work with the shipping and cruise line industries in an early and on-going manner to jointly develop recommendations for practical protective measures.

Presentations have also been made in the context of global High Seas protection at various United Nations meetings, at the Convention on Migratory Species meeting, and are planned for the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Korea this fall.

Our heavy focus on science and policy developments over the past year has meant that we have not given as much time as we had hoped to staying in touch and communicating on progress and next steps. In 2012 we are taking a number of steps to remedy this. Here are some of the other tools that we'll be using: