Georges Bank is a relatively shallow (3-150 m) submarine plateau off the coast of New England in the Atlantic Ocean, forming an area larger than the state of Massachusetts (Link et al. 2005). 

The Gulf of Maine forms the most northerly component of the Northeast Large Marine Ecosystem, extending northward from Georges Bank and east to Canadian waters.

The Mid-Atlantic Bight falls between Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, extending westward into the Atlantic to the 100m isobath. Primary productivity is highest in the nearshore and estuarine regions, with coastal phytoplankton blooms initiating in the winter and summer, although the timing and spatial extent of blooms varies from year to year.

The Cold Pool is a key oceanographic feature in the Mid-Atlantic Bight, consisting of a band of cold near-bottom water extending between Cape Hatteras and southern Georges Bank.

Northeast Ecosystem

Extending from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras, the Northeast ecosystem is marked with a temperate climate and high productivity influenced by tidal flux, gyre circulation, cold southward flowing currents and warm eddies that spin off the northward flowing Gulf Stream. High productivity supports a biodiverse array of invertebrates, pelagic fish, groundfish, anadromous fish, seabirds and marine mammals.

We used input from stakeholders to create a comprehensive understanding of the social-ecological system in West Hawai‘i, diagrammed in this conceptual ecosystem model. Ecosystem services are linked to complex interactions between human pressures such as habitat destruction, and ecological elements such as reef and pelagic fishes. In the model, Drivers (orange boxes) tend to be distal events that create more immediate Pressures (red boxes) which create change within an Ecosystem State Component (green boxes). Changes directly influence Impacted Ecosystem Services (purple boxes).