NOAA technical memorandum NMFS-NE ; 208

"The Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) concept was selected as one of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) notable breakthroughs commemorated during the 2007 celebration of NOAA's 200 years of ocean sciences. In accordance with the US Ocean Action Plan (USOAP 2004), the LME concept for ecosystem-based management and its five-module approach (productivity, fish and fisheries, pollution and ecosystem health, socioeconomics, and governance) are being applied to 16 international projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.These LME projects are funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the World Bank, participating countries, and other donors at a level of US $1.8 billion. NOAA is providing technical and scientific support to the projects through close coordination with 5 United Nations (UN) agencies, 2 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the ministries of fisheries and the environment of 110 countries supporting the hands-on participation of 2,500 experts and partners. The operational strategies for the fourth replenishment of the GEF (2007-2010) augmented international LME activities by US $230 million. Supplemental financing of the LME foundation projects with World Bank investment funds is likely to increase support of LME projects to a level of US $3 billion by 2010. This unprecedented level of financial support provides developing countries with the means to operationalize the five-module LME approach to marine resource assessment and management and to acquire and operate advanced sampling systems for obtaining time series data on productivity, coastal oceanography, nutrients, climatology, fish and fisheries, and pollution and ecosystem health pertinent to the Global Ocean Observation System (GOOS) and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). Countries participating in the LME projects welcome NOAA's scientific and technical assistance. With the recent expansion of GEF supported LME projects, opportunities have increased substantially for NOAA Line Organizations such as the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the National Ocean Service (NOS), the National Weather Service (NWS), and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) to become actively engaged in providing scientific assistance to participating countries in ecosystem assessment and management methods. In keeping with the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) target to protect, restore, and manage the use of coastal and ocean resources through an ecosystem approach by 2010, specific opportunities are highlighted for international collaboration with coastal countries and their LME activities around the margins of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, the 17 Arctic LMEs, and the 23 LMEs in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region. The expanded scale of activities opens pathways for innovative linkages among the LME projects and the global spatial and temporal extent of GOOS and GEOSS. Part I is an overview of the global LME Program. Part II discusses the actions of UN agencies and NGOs engaged in providing support to 16 GEF-LME Projects. Part III outlines the planned activities of the LME program in relation to GEF-supported LME project initiatives for FY 2007-2010"--publication home page.

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)

United States