BRIEF OVERVIEW OF POTENTIAL ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS OF MARINE PHOSPHATE MINING IN THE WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA

The report warns that bulk marine sediment mining in the Western Cape would likely cause the 'effective destruction and removal of the benthic ecosystem' within mined areas, with recovery potentially taking decades or being permanent. It highlights significant spatial overlaps between proposed prospecting areas and vulnerable benthic habitats, priority conservation regions, and commercial trawl fisheries. Potential impacts include acoustic disturbance to marine mammals and fish, water-column chemistry alterations leading to hypoxia, and the re-suspension of heavy metals. The author argues that the permanent alteration of sea floor habitats is 'inevitable' with deep-sea dredging and calls for a cautious approach to protect biodiversity and sustainable fishery resources.

• Bulk dredging of the sea floor is expected to result in the total destruction of the benthic ecosystem within the mined zones.
• Recovery of benthic communities in deep-sea environments is slow and may be permanent; areas at 200m depth can take approximately 20 years to reach a mature equilibrium, and in low-energy environments, changes to sediment structure may occur only on geological time scales.
• Proposed prospecting licence areas (GFT 251 and 257) overlap with critically endangered benthic ecosystems, priority offshore conservation regions (including Child’s Bank, Cape Canyon, Brown’s Bank, and Agulhas Bank), and the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area.
• Mining operations pose a risk to the South African offshore trawl fishery due to the high degree of spatial coincidence between proposed prospecting sites and existing commercial trawl footprints.
• The use of Trailing Suction Hopper-Dredges (TSHD) creates acoustic pollution and shipping traffic that can disturb sound-sensitive fish and mammals over several kilometres.
• Mining activities can alter water-column chemistry by releasing anoxic sediments and organic matter, which increases oxygen demand and may aggravate bottom-water hypoxia.
• There is a risk of re-suspending heavy metals such as cadmium, chromium, copper, and zinc from sediments, which could lead to acute toxicity or bio-magnification in fishery resources.

APA

Currie, J. (n.d.). BRIEF OVERVIEW OF POTENTIAL ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS OF MARINE PHOSPHATE MINING IN THE WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ecosystem-Impacts-Report-WEB.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Currie, Jock. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF POTENTIAL ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS OF MARINE PHOSPHATE MINING IN THE WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA. Centre for Environmental Rights, n.d. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ecosystem-Impacts-Report-WEB.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Currie |first1=Jock |title=BRIEF OVERVIEW OF POTENTIAL ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS OF MARINE PHOSPHATE MINING IN THE WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ecosystem-Impacts-Report-WEB.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{curriendbrief, author = {Currie, Jock}, title = {{BRIEF OVERVIEW OF POTENTIAL ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS OF MARINE PHOSPHATE MINING IN THE WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ecosystem-Impacts-Report-WEB.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }