Abstract In response to the call for this special issue of MTS to discuss “The role of industry, governments, institutions, volunteer effort, citizen science and indigenous knowledge” in mapping the gaps, we discuss these roles in the South Pacific with examples from Papua New Guinea and Kiribati in particular. The authors discuss their views of the importance of ocean mapping to indigenous knowledge in building a future of thriving culture, biodiversity, and economic growth while facing pressing challenges such as climate change, sea-level rise, and natural disasters. Small island nations of the Pacific have extensive territorial waters and marine-dependent economies, but many have not had infrastructure to do their own seafloor mapping with modern equipment. Ocean mapping serves as a bridge between the past and the future, integrating traditional knowledge with scientific innovations to address pressing challenges. There have been many successful partnerships between local communities, researchers, explorers, and organizations to advance ocean mapping efforts in the South Pacific and support the Seabed 2030 mission. One example is led by Inkfish, an organization dedicated to providing support and services to marine researchers worldwide. Below, we explore Inkfish’s impact on deep-water mapping, where larger vessels and deep-water multibeam echosounder systems are essential for collecting bathymetric data. Bathymetry data are a cornerstone of creating conservation and sustainable growth plans for the huge territorial waters and exclusive economic zones of the South Pacific, and we hope others may learn from these examples.
Kinney et al. (Tue,) studied this question.
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