set out to determine the biomass of such resources and the pertinent sustainable
yield, pursuant to UNCLOS Art. 60. Noteworthy is that the results of the REVIZEE
Program are, however, not limited to warnings about the availability and status quo
of key living resources of the country’s EEZ. Knowledge on marine biodiversity,
including in deep waters—demersal and benthic species, witnessed a great expansion, as scientific researches on the ecosystems of the continental slope up to 2000 m
deep provided information and empirical subsidies to the management of fisheries
off the Brazilian shore.
50 Among the main findings of the Program was that coastal
and marine areas contain numerous species endemic to Brazilian waters, some of
which severely threatened with depletion.
51
Alongside the REVIZEE, other actions stemmed from later sectorial plans for
marine resources. Yet, unlike the REVIZEE, the following actions and programs are
still on-going. It is the case of the 1997 Program for the Assessment of the Mineral
Potential of the Brazilian Legal Continental Shelf (REMPLAC), designed by the
Interministerial Commission for Marine Resources via Resolution no. 004/1997.
The Program’s general objective is to evaluate the mineral potential of the Brazilian
continental shelf, while simultaneously (i) depicting the physical environment of that
continental shelf; (ii) identifying and detailing areas of relevant mineral potential;
(iii) collecting basic geological information for the management and integrated
management of the shelf and the adjacent coastal zone; (iv) implementing a
georeferenced digital database for use by the scientific community, government
agencies and Brazilian companies;
52 (v) proposing a methodology and standards
for the execution of marine scientific research on the shelf; and, finally, (vi) fostering
research that aims advancing and innovating techniques and equipment employed in
the exploitation of continental shelf mineral resources.
53
The REMPLAC’s main purpose is to elaborate a geological and geophysical
model for the evaluation of mineral resources in the continental shelf, so as to assess
the mineral potential of at least 8% of the entirety of that area.
54 It is ongoing, albeit
on a rather slow rhythm, what suggests a lack of priority by the CIRM and national
stakeholders to surveying the mineral potential of the Brazilian shelf. The time gap
between the end of the VII and the approval of the IX Plan, as well as the extremely
50 The REVIZEE produced several reports on the status of fisheries in the Brazilian EEZ, all of
which unfortunately only in Portuguese. For more, visit: https://www.marinha.mil.br/secirm/
revizee. Accessed 11 April 2020.
51 The Final Executive Report of the REVIZEE Program, delivered in 2006, identified at least ten
endemic species within the Brazilian EEZ that risk depletion. The species belong to rays, sharks,
sawfishes and others. For a complete list of the endangered species in Portuguese and Latin, see
MMA (2006), p. 64.
52 A result of the such objective was the crafting of an online Geographic Atlas of the Brazilian
Coastal and Marine Regions, by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Available at:
http://www.atlasmar.ibge.gov.br/. Accessed 11 April 2020.
53 For more on the REMPLAC, see Longo (2014), p. 97.
54 Those objectives can be accessed at the CIRM’s website, at: https://www.marinha.mil.br/secirm/
remplac. Accessed 11 April 2020.
260
9 The Environmental Dimension of the “Brazilian Blue...
yield, pursuant to UNCLOS Art. 60. Noteworthy is that the results of the REVIZEE
Program are, however, not limited to warnings about the availability and status quo
of key living resources of the country’s EEZ. Knowledge on marine biodiversity,
including in deep waters—demersal and benthic species, witnessed a great expansion, as scientific researches on the ecosystems of the continental slope up to 2000 m
deep provided information and empirical subsidies to the management of fisheries
off the Brazilian shore.
50 Among the main findings of the Program was that coastal
and marine areas contain numerous species endemic to Brazilian waters, some of
which severely threatened with depletion.
51
Alongside the REVIZEE, other actions stemmed from later sectorial plans for
marine resources. Yet, unlike the REVIZEE, the following actions and programs are
still on-going. It is the case of the 1997 Program for the Assessment of the Mineral
Potential of the Brazilian Legal Continental Shelf (REMPLAC), designed by the
Interministerial Commission for Marine Resources via Resolution no. 004/1997.
The Program’s general objective is to evaluate the mineral potential of the Brazilian
continental shelf, while simultaneously (i) depicting the physical environment of that
continental shelf; (ii) identifying and detailing areas of relevant mineral potential;
(iii) collecting basic geological information for the management and integrated
management of the shelf and the adjacent coastal zone; (iv) implementing a
georeferenced digital database for use by the scientific community, government
agencies and Brazilian companies;
52 (v) proposing a methodology and standards
for the execution of marine scientific research on the shelf; and, finally, (vi) fostering
research that aims advancing and innovating techniques and equipment employed in
the exploitation of continental shelf mineral resources.
53
The REMPLAC’s main purpose is to elaborate a geological and geophysical
model for the evaluation of mineral resources in the continental shelf, so as to assess
the mineral potential of at least 8% of the entirety of that area.
54 It is ongoing, albeit
on a rather slow rhythm, what suggests a lack of priority by the CIRM and national
stakeholders to surveying the mineral potential of the Brazilian shelf. The time gap
between the end of the VII and the approval of the IX Plan, as well as the extremely
50 The REVIZEE produced several reports on the status of fisheries in the Brazilian EEZ, all of
which unfortunately only in Portuguese. For more, visit: https://www.marinha.mil.br/secirm/
revizee. Accessed 11 April 2020.
51 The Final Executive Report of the REVIZEE Program, delivered in 2006, identified at least ten
endemic species within the Brazilian EEZ that risk depletion. The species belong to rays, sharks,
sawfishes and others. For a complete list of the endangered species in Portuguese and Latin, see
MMA (2006), p. 64.
52 A result of the such objective was the crafting of an online Geographic Atlas of the Brazilian
Coastal and Marine Regions, by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Available at:
http://www.atlasmar.ibge.gov.br/. Accessed 11 April 2020.
53 For more on the REMPLAC, see Longo (2014), p. 97.
54 Those objectives can be accessed at the CIRM’s website, at: https://www.marinha.mil.br/secirm/
remplac. Accessed 11 April 2020.
260
9 The Environmental Dimension of the “Brazilian Blue...