1. Pacific Central-American Coastal Large Marine Ecosystem: A Review
Igor Belkin
University of Rhode Island

2. PCAC
LME

3. Countries PCAC LME Eastern Tropical Pacific LME total area:
MEXICO
GUATEMALA
EL SALVADOR
PCAC LME
HONDURAS
LME total area:
1,996,659 km2
NICARAGUA
COSTA RICA
PANAMA
Eastern Tropical Pacific
COLOMBIA
Each dot corresponds to a grid cell,
0.25° latitude by 0.25° longitude.
At the Equator, cells are 28 km x 28 km
ECUADOR
PERU

4. Sea Surface Temperature
(Fiedler and Talley, 2006)

5. Sea Surface Salinity
(Fiedler and Talley, 2006)

6. (Kessler, 2006; drifter data)
Surface Currents
(Kessler, 2006; drifter data)

7. Surface Currents: Spring vs. Fall
(Wyrtki, 1965)
CC: California Current (CC)
NEC: North Equatorial Current
NECC: North Equatorial Countercurrent
SEC: South Equatorial Current
CRC: Costa Rica Coastal Current
ITCZ: Intertropical Convergence Zone.
Dashed lines around the NECC
show its varying extent.

8. Vertical Structure of Zonal Currents (Kessler, 2006)
Mean meridional sections of temperature (white contours) and zonal current (color shading, where red is eastward and blue westward; cm/s).
At 125°W and 110°W, directly measured currents are shown within ±8° latitude; elsewhere the currents are geostrophic.

9. Seasonal Variations of Geostrophic Currents
Red colors indicate high dynamic heights (0/450 m), blue low; units = dyn. cm.
Kessler (2006)

10. Long-Term Variability of Sea Surface Temperature

11. SST change in LMEs from 1957 through 2012
Belkin (2015)

12. PACIFIC CENTRAL-
AMERICAN COASTAL

13. Long-Term Variability of SST
Between 1957 and 2012, the PCAC LME has warmed by 0.27°C, thus belonging to Category 4 (slow warming LME).
The thermal history of this LME was non-monotonous. The cooling phase culminated in two minima, in 1971 and 1975, both associated with major La Niñas, after which SST rose by approximately 1°C over the next 30 years.
The absolute minimum of 1975 was synchronous with absolute minima in two other East Pacific LMEs: California Current and Gulf of California.
The warming phase was accentuated by two sharp peaks, in and 1997, both associated with major El Niños. Similar warm events were observed in other East Pacific LMEs (Humboldt Current, Gulf of California, and California Current). All significant maxima and minima of SST observed in PCAC LME are associated with El Niños and La Niñas respectively.

14. CALIFORNIA CURRENT

15. GULF OF CALIFORNIA

16. GULF OF MEXICO

17. CARIBBEAN SEA

18. HUMBOLDT CURRENT

19. CALIF. CURR.
GULF of CALIF.
GULF of MEXICO
PACIFIC
CENTRAL
CARIB.SEA
HUMBOLDT CURR.

20. SST Fronts From Satellite Data (Belkin, 2005)

21. (O’Reilly, 2015; satellite data)
Chlorophyll-a
(O’Reilly, 2015; satellite data)

22. (O’Reilly, 2015; satellite data)
Primary Productivity
(O’Reilly, 2015; satellite data)

23. Chlorophyll-a and Primary Productivity
(O’Reilly, 2015)
The annual Chlorophyll-a concentration (CHL) cycle has a maximum peak (0.343 mg m-3) in March and a minimum (0.230 mg m-3) during August.
The average CHL-a is mg m-3.
Maximum primary productivity (490 g C m-2 y-1) occurred during 2000 and minimum primary productivity (336 g C m-2y-1) during 1998.
There is a statistically insignificant increasing trend in Chlorophyll of 15.2 % from 2003 through 2013.
The average primary productivity is 407 g C m-2 y-1, which places this LME in Group 4 of 5 categories (with 1 = lowest and 5= highest).

24. Fish Catch Anchoveta Engraulis ringens
Anchoveta Cetengraulis mysticetus
Fish Catch
Penaeid shrimp
Penaeus monodon
Yellowfin tuna Thunnus albacares
Pacific sardine Sardinops sagax
Pacific thread herring Opisthonema libertate

25. The Pacific Central-American Coastal LME is rich in both pelagic and demersal fisheries resources. The most valuable fisheries in the region are offshore tunas and coastal penaeid shrimps, whose landed bycatch is usually not reported. More than 50% of the reported shelf catches consists of small coastal pelagic species such as anchoveta (Engraulis ringens and Cetengraulis mysticetus), Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) and Pacific thread herring (Opisthonema libertate), most of which are used for fishmeal and fish-oil.

26. (Sea Around Us Project, 2014)
Annual Catch
(Sea Around Us Project, 2014)

27. Conclusions
The Pacific Central American LME is one of the most complex LMEs in the World Ocean
Long-term warming so far was rather slow
The only regime shift - after La Nina 1975
Effects of El Ninos and La Ninos are strong
Primary productivity is stable
Fishing yields declined since the 1990s

28. Acknowledgments:
Ken Sherman
Jay O’Reilly
THANK YOU!