Gulf of Mexico LME

The Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem is an expansive and topographically diverse area. The Gulf receives freshwater input from many rivers including the Mississippi-Atchafalaya. The area in which this river outflows has the highest primary productivity in the Gulf. Oceanic waters enter from the Yucatan channel and flow through and out of the Straits of Florida creating what is known as the Loop Current. This Loop Current contributes to major nutrient upwelling in the euphotic zone of the gulf. An interesting climatological feature of this LME is the frequency of tropical storms, which also contributes to upwelling.

The coastal regions of the Gulf of Mexico are densely populated and humans have had a signifigant effect on the ecosystems health and productivity. Mismanagement of sewage has become a signifigant stress upon the ecosystems health, especially bays, lagoons, and wetlands. The stress of a large population on the ecosystem is combined with the damage created by commercial industries. Oil and gas in particular have an especially damaging effect. Most recently, the BP oil pipeline leak has been disastrous for the Gulf. In the past, the commercial fishing industry has overfished and hurt marine life throughout the Gulf especially the King and Spanish Mackerel. According to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Interstate Fisheries Management Program the commercial fisheries for Spanish Mackerel averaged 3.2 million pounds of the mackerel over the past ten years.

Connor Morgan, Hayley Kraus, Sam VanHook - Kent Denver School 2011