International Seabed Authority
Also called: ISA · Topic: Primary Activities: Gathering, Pastoralism, Agriculture and Mining · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is the body that controls the search for minerals on the deep seabed beyond any country's control. That seabed is called the "Area". Under UNCLOS Part XI (the UN law of the sea treaty), the Area is the "common heritage of mankind", which means it belongs to everyone. The ISA was set up in 1994 and is based in Kingston, Jamaica. It gives out exploration contracts for polymetallic nodules, cobalt-rich crusts and sulphides. It has no mining code yet, so actual commercial mining has not been approved. In 2025 the US moved to license seabed mining outside the ISA (verify current).
Example
India holds three ISA contracts. One is for polymetallic nodules in the Central Indian Ocean Basin. The other two are for sulphides on the Central/South-West Indian Ridge and the Carlsberg Ridge. India's Deep Ocean Mission (2021), with Samudrayaan and the Matsya-6000 submersible, supports this work.
Don't confuse with
- UNCLOS: the treaty that sets the rules of the sea. The ISA is the body created under it to manage the seabed beyond national control.
- Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): seabed minerals inside a country's EEZ belong to that country, not to the ISA.
Related concepts
- Chilean copper belt
- Lithium Triangle
- Pilbara
- Bayan Obo
- China's dominance in critical minerals
- Shale gas
- Deep-sea mining