France, Jan. 20 -- France's parliament has called for the country to join the international fight to ban deep-sea mining, starting by outlawing the practice in its own vast marine territory.

The French National Assembly voted on Tuesdayin favour of banning deep-sea miningin its waters,with 215 votes in favour and 56 against.

The resolution calls for a moratorium on the process "until it has been demonstrated by independent scientific groups with certainty that this extractive activity can be undertaken without degrading marine ecosystems and without loss of marine biodiversity".

In the meantime, the MPs called on France to block the adoption of any deep-seamining regulationsby the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the intergovernme...