In order to create a space for meeting, dialogue and declarations about Sargasso Sea and Thermal Dome, the SARGADOM team organized a one hour and a half boat trip on the Tage river on June 29. The event brought together the SARGADOM project partners: The Sargasso Sea Commission, MarViva, the University of Brest, and the French Biodiversity Agency, as well as friends of the project.
The overall SARGADOM project was presented by Denis Bailly (Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Brest). The history of the Sargasso Sea, the steps taken to protect the Sargasso Sea and the science needed were then introduced by three Commissioners of the Sargasso Sea: Tammy Warren (Senior Marine Resources Officer of the Government of Bermuda), Mark Spalding (President of The Ocean Foundation) and Professor Stephen de Mora (former Chief Executive of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory and PML Applications Ltd). For the Thermal Dome, Jorge Jiménez (Director General of the MarViva Foundation) introduced its history and the efforts taken to protect it. Finally, the Call for Action for each site was presented conjointly by Haydée Rodríguez-Romero (coordinator of the SARGADOM project for MarViva) and Walter H Roban (JP, MP, Deputy Premier of Bermuda and Minister of Home Affairs).
Haydée Rodríguez-Romero called for a technical working group focused on the Thermal Dome to be established within the High Ambition Coalition for BBNJ – “let it be a blueprint for ocean governance in the future,” she said.
The Honourable Minister Walter Roban, Deputy Premier of the Bermuda Government called for more governments to become signatories to the Hamilton Declaration, saying “though we often feel as if they belong to no one, the High Seas are the responsibility of everyone.” As a result of this event, the Minister met with European Parliament members Pierre Karleskind, chair of the Committee on Fisheries, and Catherine Chabaud, member of the Development, Environment, and Fisheries Committees, to advocate for the eventual signing of the Hamilton Declaration by member states of the European Union.
