Your gateway to african Ocean Information. Lucy Scott is an editor of the Agulhas and Somali Large Marine Ecosystem divisions.

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.

LMEs of the world annually produce 95% of usable global marine biomass. However, 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. The importance of marine and coastal area resources is undeniably substantial. Mitigating the negative impacts of these threats and adopting management practices that sustain ecosystem function and health has thus become an international priority.

Four of the African LMEs (the Agulhas-Somali Current, Benguela Current, Gulf of Guinea, and Canaries Current) have portals within the African Ocean Portal.

Meetings: A meeting was held in Ostend, Belgium, in December 2005