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| | | Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) |
Maintained by IOC
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|  | | Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) are regions of ocean and coastal space that encompass river basins and estuaries and extend out to the seaward boundary of continental shelves and the seaward margins of coastal current systems. As their name states, LMEs are relatively large regions that have been delineated according to continuities in their physical and biological characteristics, including inter alia : bathymetry, hydrography, productivity and trophically dependent populations. The LME as an organizational unit facilitates management and governance strategies that recognize the ecosystem's numerous biological and physical elements and the complex dynamics that exist amongst and between them. | | | | Presently, the health of many of the 64 LMEs is at risk primarily as a result of pollution, over-fishing, habitat modification and habitat destruction. The consequences of these threats on ecosystem function and health, as well as the corresponding consequences to the global human population, is not known in empirical terms (ecosystem dynamics are non-linear, often with causes and effects separated by a variable time lag). However, the importance of marine and coastal area resources is undeniably substantial, thus mitigating the negative impacts of these threats and adopting management practices that sustain ecosystem function and health has become an international priority. | | | | The international community is very concerned with the deteriorating conditions of coastal ecosystems. As a result of follow-up actions to United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) declarations in 1992 on the declining state of global coastal ocean areas, an important corner has been turned toward a focused global effort to improve and sustain coastal ecosystems. With the initiation in 2001 of the Benguela Current, Yellow Sea, Baltic Sea, and Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) projects , 30 countries across the globe in Asia, Africa, and eastern Europe have made ministerial level commitments to ecosystem-based assessment and management practices in support of the global objectives of Chapter 17 of Agenda 21. Among the specific project objectives are: (1) the recovery of depleted fish biomass and fisheries to promote greater food security, sustainable productivity and socioeconomic benefits; (2) reduction in pollution and eutrophication levels of coastal waters; and (3) restoration of degraded habitats including corals, mangroves, and wetlands. The biomass recovery and restoration activities encompass whole marine ecosystems. An additional 20 countries are preparing proposals to improve global coastal health and restore depleted biomass yields in west Africa (Canary Current LME), east Africa (Somali Current and Agulhas Current LMEs), Asia (Bay of Bengal LME), and Latin America (Caribbean LME and Gulf of Mexico LME, Humboldt Current LME, and the Pacific Central American Coastal LME). This coastal ocean restoration and sustainability approach is based on a 5-module assessment and management methodology. The modules are science-based and country driven; they include considerations of ecosystem: (1) productivity, (2) fish and fisheries, (3) pollution and ecosystem health, (4) socioeconomics, and (5) governance. (Figure 2). This approach is engaging ministries across traditional sectors (e.g. Environment, Fisheries, Energy, Tourism, and Finance). Graphic depiction of LMEs courtesy of NOAA | | | | List of Large Marine Ecosystems | | | 1 East Bering Sea
2 Gulf of Alaska
3 California Current
4 Gulf of California
5 Gulf of Mexico
6 Southeast U.S. Continental Shelf
7 Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf
8 Scotian Shelf
9 Newfoundland-Labrador Shelf
10 Insular Pacific-Hawaiian
11 Pacific Central-American Coastal
12 Caribbean Sea
13 Humboldt Current
14 Patagonian Shelf
15 South Brazil Shelf
16 East Brazil Shelf
17 North Brazil Shelf
18 West Greenland Shelf
19 East Greenland Shelf
20 Barents Sea
21 Norwegian Shelf
22 North Sea
23 Baltic Sea
24 Celtic-Biscay Shelf
25 Iberian Coastal
26 Mediterranean Sea
27 Canary Current
28 Guinea Current
29 Benguela Current
30 Agulhas Current
31 Somali Coastal Current
32 Arabian Sea
33 Red Sea
34 Bay of Bengal
35 Gulf of Thailand
36 South China Sea
37 Sulu-Celebes Sea
38 Indonesian Sea
39 North Australian Shelf
40 Northeast Australian Shelf/Great Barrier Reef
41 East-Central Australian Shelf
42 Southeast Australian Shelf
43 Southwest Australian Shelf
44 West-Central Australian Shelf
45 Northwest Australian Shelf
46 New Zealand Shelf
47 East China Sea
48 Yellow Sea
49 Kuroshio Current
50 Sea of Japan
51 Oyashio Current
52 Sea of Okhotsk
53 West Bering Sea
54 Chukchi Sea
55 Beaufort Sea
56 East Siberian Sea
57 Laptev Sea
58 Kara Sea
59 Iceland Shelf
60 Faroe Plateau
61 Antarctica
62 Black Sea
63 Hudson Bay
64 Arctic Ocean
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