The CCLME is one of the world’s major cold water upwelling boundary current LME. It ranks third in the world in terms of primary productivity and it has one of the highest fisheries production of any African large marine ecosystem with an annual production ranging from 2-3 million tonnes.
Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs)
Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) are defined as near coastal areas where primary productivity is generally higher than in open ocean areas. The LME concept is used as a tool for enabling ecosystem-based management to provide a collaborative approach to management of resources within ecologically-bounded transnational areas. This is done in an international context and consistent with customary international law as reflected in 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The Mediterranean LME is located between Southwestern Europe and Northern Africa and is bordered by a large number of countries.
These are two Large Marine Ecosystems in the western Indian Ocean. These are the Somali Current LME – which extends from the Comoros Islands and the northern tip of Madagascar up to the horn of Africa – and the Agulhas Current LME which stretches from the northern end of the Mozambique Channel to Cape Agulhas.
The Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem (GCLME) is the largest GEF-supported LME project in Africa. It encompasses 16 countries from Guinea Bissau in the northwest coast of Africa to Angola in the southwest.