New Appointments To Sargasso Sea Commission

September 30, 2015

The Government announced the appointment of two new commissioners to the Sargasso Sea Commission, with Professor Stephen de Mora and Mr. Mark Spalding joining the international, six strong commission to exercise a stewardship role for the Sargasso Sea, a unique ocean ecosystem.

The role of the Commission is to establish safeguard measures for the Sargasso Sea, a unique two-million-square nautical mile ecosystem in the North Atlantic that is without effective legal protection under international law.

The Sargasso Sea Commission was created by the Hamilton Declaration on Collaboration for the Conservation of the Sargasso Sea signed in Bermuda on March 11, 2014.

Video of the signing in 2014:

The original five governments that are Signatories to the Declaration are Bermuda, US, UK, Monaco and The Azores.

Under the terms of the Declaration, the Commission does not have any management authority but recommends proposed measures for governments to submit and/or support at various international and regional organizations.

New commissioners were sought in anticipation of the expiring of the term of the South African Commissioner Professor Dire Tladi.

“The Government of Bermuda approved the candidates that were nominated by the Signatories to the Hamilton Declaration. The quality of candidates was of such a high calibre, that it was agreed to appoint two commissioners,” explained the Minister of Health, Seniors and Environment, Jeanne Atherden.

“The Hamilton Declaration requires they be distinguished scientists and other persons of international repute committed to the conservation of high seas ecosystems that would serve in their personal capacity.”

The new commissioners will serve alongside the current commissioners: Dr. Billy Causey [US], Professor Howard Roe [UK], Professor Ricardo Serrão Santos [the Azores], and Dr. Tammy Trott [Bermuda].

Professor de Mora is currently the Chief Executive of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory [MPL] and PML Applications Limited, as well as an Honorary Visiting Professor in Biosciences at the University of Exeter.

He holds UK and Canadian nationality and has a broad work experience in environmental research and senior management, having had a career in academia, international organizations and private business.

President of The Ocean Foundation, Mr. Spalding is an authority on international environmental policy and law and has devoted his career to promoting true sustainability: the economic, social, and environmental well-being of communities that enables them to thrive. He is a US national.

“Operating in a largely virtual setting, Commissioners will serve in-kind in their personal capacity and will be supported by a small Secretariat based at the Washington DC Office of the International Union for Conservation of Nature [IUCN],” said the Minister.

“I am very pleased that we have appointed two new distinguished Commissioners who will add great value to the work of the Commission,” says Dr. David Freestone, Executive Secretary of the Sargasso Sea Commission.

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Comments (5)

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  1. Oh,I see now says:

    From King to pawn I guess you found out this is chess and not checkers heh heh.Soon you will become ,what ever happened to ya boy who used to be the premier.

  2. seriola says:

    What ever happened to BLUE HALO. I still see the stickers and the shirts.

    • cole says:

      The government has effectively stopped any discussion of forming an NGO, or Blue Halo, due to pressure from local mining (speculation) interests outweighing the desires of the majority of Bermudians to protect our outer territorial waters.

  3. jeremy deacon says:

    Good to see – but I have no idea what this actually means and it would be nice to get an update on any work that is being done ….?