COP15 in Brazil: Opportunity for enhanced seamount protection
Nature Knows No Borders: Governments Urged to Seize Landmark Opportunity to Protect Seamounts as Critical Habitat for Migratory Marine Species
PRESS RELEASE – 20 March 2026
- The Fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) takes place in Campo Grande, Brazil 23 – 29 March 2026.
- Countries that are Parties to the Convention will have the opportunity to adopt a resolution conserving seamount ecosystems and to list various threatened shark species on Appendix I.
- OceanCare will be on the ground in Brazil supporting conservation proposals and encouraging Parties to put the best possible protection in place.
Aimed at protecting key habitats and species the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) offers the opportunity to achieve improved protection for seamounts and migratory sharks, whales and many other species.
The Fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP15) has some 100 agenda items spanning key threats to migratory species, including deep-sea mining impacts, illegal and unsustainable take, bycatch, habitat loss and fragmentation, light, noise and other forms of marine pollution, and vessel strikes. Protecting key habitats, including migratory corridors and climate change will also be discussed.
Vulnerable Seamounts in need of better protection
Uniquely, CMS COP15 offers the 133 Parties to the Convention the opportunity to provide key protection to vulnerable seamount habitats. These are underwater mountains that serve as critical hubs for marine wildlife, including many migratory species such as whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles and seabirds. Seamounts, often remnants of extinct volcanoes rising hundreds or even thousands of metres from the seafloor, function as ecological oases in the open ocean. Their unique topography and the oceanographic processes associated with them concentrate nutrients and prey, creating hotspots of biodiversity where migratory species gather to feed, rest, navigate and reproduce. For highly mobile animals crossing vast ocean basins, these predictable features act as stepping-stones along migration routes.
Seamounts are known to attract a wide range of migratory species listed under CMS, including whales, dolphins, turtles and sharks. In some areas, shark abundance has been recorded at more than forty times higher around seamounts than in the surrounding open ocean. These underwater mountains therefore play a particularly important role for top marine predators.
But the same characteristics that attract marine life also make seamounts highly vulnerable to destructive fishing practices, particularly bottom trawling. This fishing method drags heavy gear across the seafloor, damaging fragile deep-sea habitats such as corals and sponges that can take centuries to recover. Bottom trawling also means that less fish is available for migratory species that rely on this food source during their migrations. Studies have shown that seamounts exposed to bottom trawling can lose around half of their biodiversity and experience dramatic declines in biomass.
As governments prepare to meet in Brazil for the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), OceanCare strongly urges Parties to take strong action to protect seamounts.
Laetitia Nunny, OceanCare’s Senior Science Officer and OceanCare’s delegation lead at COP15 explains:
“Seamounts are critical habitats in the ecological networks that migratory species depend on. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has already called for a transition away from bottom trawling on seamounts by the end of this year. In front of the Parties to CMS is a new resolution that, if agreed, would lead to the better protection of these key habitats. Protecting them from destructive fishing practices would deliver major conservation benefits across entire ocean basins.”
Listing of Iconic Shark Species
Additionally, at COP15, governments will consider proposals to strengthen protections for several threatened shark species by adding them to Appendix I of CMS. Species which are listed on Appendix I have been assessed as being in danger of extinction and Parties should, therefore, offer them the highest level of protection by conserving and restoring their habitats, and removing obstacles to their migration.
Panama has proposed listing three thresher sharks on Appendix I—the pelagic thresher shark (Alopias pelagicus), the bigeye thresher shark (Alopias superciliosus), and the common thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus). Ecuador has also proposed adding two hammerhead species to Appendix I: the scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini) and the great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran).
The scalloped hammerhead is closely associated with seamounts, where large aggregations gather around these underwater features. Protecting seamount habitats would therefore directly support the conservation of this highly threatened species.
Despite their importance, fewer than one percent of the world’s seamounts are currently protected, and the vast majority remain unexplored. Many occur in areas beyond national jurisdiction, meaning that international cooperation will be essential to ensure their conservation.
Mark Simmonds, Director of Science at OceanCare and COP-Appointed Councillor for Marine Pollution at CMS, adds:
“By protecting seamounts, governments can safeguard vital feeding and aggregation sites for many migratory animals, including species of sharks, whales and many seabirds, and strengthen the resilience of ocean ecosystems. COP15 is a crucial moment to recognise these underwater oases and ensure they remain safe havens for the wildlife that depends on them.”
The High Seas and Migratory Marine Species
At the same time that CMS is meeting in Brazil, States will also gather at the UN Headquarters from 23 March to 2 April 2026 in New York for the Third Session of the Preparatory Commission (PrepCom 3), the final planned session before the High Seas Treaty, formally known as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement), moves fully into implementation. This meeting is critical as it is the first to occur since the agreement entered into force on 17 January 2026. There is potentially an important interplay between CMS and the BBNJ Agreement because of the overlapping interests of the two treaties, including seamounts in international waters. Also, great whales, for example, many oceanic humpback whales travel vast distances in areas beyond national jurisdictions and face many human-induces threats on their migratory routes. OceanCare also has a delegation in New York attending the BBNJ PrepCom 3, actively advocating for strong and effective processes and institutions that are critical for the meaningful implementation of the BBNJ Agreement, including steps that will lead to reducing plastic pollution, and tackling underwater noise.
More information
COP15 to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)
The Role of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS)
CMS – Conserving Seamount Ecosystems - Document
Deep Sea Conservation Coalition – Seamounts Infographic
OceanCare Report ‘Trawl Supremacy’
Media contact
- Laetitia Nunny, Senior Science Officer, OceanCare: lnunny@oceancare.org, phone: +34 628115234. In Campo Grande from 21 March 2026 (time difference to UTC/GMT: – 4h)
About OceanCare
OceanCare is an international marine conservation non-governmental organisation, founded in Switzerland in 1989. The organisation pursues the protection and restoration of the marine environment and marine wildlife with a strong policy focus, combining research, conservation projects and education. OceanCare’s remit includes marine pollution, climate change, marine mammal hunting and the environmental consequences of fisheries. Its work is supported by a team of scientific, legal and policy experts, and involves strategic collaboration with civil society organisations and coalitions around the world. OceanCare is an officially accredited partner and observer to several UN conventions and other international fora.
OceanCare has been active within CMS since 2004 and has been an official partner organisation since 2016. OceanCare is particularly involved in the issues of underwater noise, plastic and other pollution, the protection of aquatic mammals and aquatic wildlife. Since 2013, OceanCare has provided leadership and support to CMS, ACCOBAMS and ASCOBANS joint working group on underwater noise. It has also made a significant contribution to the inclusion of threatened species in the CMS Appendices.
About CMS
The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (also known as the Bonn Convention or CMS) is an international environmental agreement that coordinates the protection of migratory animals and their habitats. 132 countries plus the European Union are Parties to the Convention. CMS is the only global convention focused on the conservation of migratory species, their habitats and migratory routes. It brings together the countries through which migratory animals pass (the ‘Range States’) and provides the legal basis for internationally coordinated conservation measures throughout the range of migratory species and populations. The decision-making body of CMS is the Conference of Parties (CoP) and it also has a Scientific Council and other administrative bodies.
CMS COP15 will take place from 23–29 March 2026 at the Bosque Expo in Campo Grande, Brazil, the first time a CMS COP is hosted in Latin America. The meeting will bring together governments, scientists, conservationists, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and civil society to address urgent conservation challenges. CMS COP15 will be convened under the slogan "Connecting Nature to Sustain Life," highlighting the vital role of ecological connectivity for conserving ecosystems, crucial both for migratory species and human well-being, and reflecting linkages between ecological connectivity, migratory species conservation, and climate change. The meeting builds directly on COP14 outcomes from Samarkand (2024), most notably the landmark deep-sea mining resolution.
--- OceanCare, Gerbestrasse 6, CH-8820 Wädenswil Tel +41 44 780 66 88, presse@oceancare.org, www.oceancare.org
Folgen Sie uns: Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Instagram