Large Marine Ecosystems (LME)

Large Marine Ecosystems (LME) are ocean regions of 200,000 km2 or greater that are defined by ecological criteria, including bathymetry, hydrography, marine productivity, and trophically linked populations. Since 1984, NOAA?s LME Program has developed ecosystem management tools, initiated projects that have been funded by partner organizations, and provided training for developing country participants, helping to raise their level of expertise, their scientific understanding and their capabilities to mitigate and implement ecosystem-based marine resource assessment and management practices. The LME concept for ecosystem-based management and its 5-module approach (productivity, fish and fisheries, pollution and ecosystem health, socioeconomics, and governance) are being applied globally to analyze ecosystem-wide changes, and provide the scientific foundation for management actions that link scientific assessments to actions for: protection of the marine environment, sustainable development of coastal and marine resources, recovery of depleted fisheries, restoration of degraded habitats, reduction and control of coastal pollution and nutrient over-enrichment, conservation of biodiversity, and adaptation to climate change. The NOAA LME Program partners with the Global Environment Facility (GEF)/World Bank, five U.N. agencies, and two NGOs to promote the use of the LME approach for assessment and management of marine resources in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. A total of 110 countries and an estimated network of 2,500 scientists, marine specialists and resource managers are participating in 18 GEF-supported LME Projects.