Includes the keynote addresses and papers presented on the conference themes that covered: environment, ecosystem biology, habitat, diversity and oceanography; population biology and resource assessment; harvesting and conservation strategies for resource management; technology requirements; monitoring, compliance and controls; a review of existing policies and instruments; and governance and management. It also provides the perspectives of participating experts and the conference Steering Committee. The general conclusions of the conference contain the elements that must be addressed and undertaken if deep-sea fish resources are to be sustained and their habitat protected to ensure productivity and safeguard deep-sea biodiversity. The second volume of the proceedings includes posters and corresponding papers presented at the conference as well as papers from workshops held prior to the main conference.

Seamounts are ubiquitous undersea mountains rising from the ocean seafloor that do not reach the surface. There are likely many hundreds of thousands of seamounts, they are usually formed from volcanoes in the deep sea and are defined by oceanographers as independent features that rise to at least 0.5 km above the seafloor, although smaller features may have the same origin. This book follows a logical progression from geological and physical processes, ecology, biology and biogeography, to exploitation, management and conservation concerns. In 21 Chapters written by 57 of the world’s leading seamount experts, the book reviews all aspects of their geology, ecology, biology, exploitation, conservation and management. In Section I of this book, several detection and estimation techniques for tallying seamounts are reviewed, along with a history of seamount research. This book represents a unique and fresh synthesis of knowledge of seamounts and their biota and is an essential reference work on the topic. It is an essential purchase for all fisheries scientists and managers, fish biologists, marine biologists and ecologists, environmental scientists, conservation biologists and oceanographers. It will also be of interest to members of fish and wildlife agencies and government departments covering conservation and management. Supplementary material is available at: www.seamountsbook.info