Contact person: Mandy Karnauskas, Mandy.Karnauskas@noaa.gov, (305) 361-4592
An update to the Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Status Report will be released at the State of the Gulf Summit in March 2017. The original Report, published in 2013, summarized various focal components in the Gulf of Mexico necessary to consider from an ecosystem perspective. The Report highlighted potential indicators — including climate drivers, biological states, and socioeconomic responses – that could be used to track these focal ecosystem components. The 2017 update will highlight a subset of key indicators selected from the original suite. Additionally, in response to the need to understand interannual fluctuations in fish recruitment, indicators of recruitment strength will be included for several key species. Finally, the update will include increased focus on human dimensions indicators which are intended to track the well-being of communities dependent on the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. This work is being carried out by the NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center in collaboration with other NOAA entities, state agencies, and academic partners, as part of NOAA’s Gulf of Mexico Integrated Ecosystem Assessment Program.
