GoM ‘dead zone’ largest ever

Scientists from the National Oceanic and Administration (NOAA) have determined 2017’s “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico - an area of low oxygen that can kill fish and marine life - is some 8,776 square miles or about the size of New Jersey. It is the largest measured dead zone that has been mapped since 1985. The annual forecast, generated from a suite of NOAA-sponsored models, is based on nutrient runoff data from the U.S. Geological Survey. The actual size shows the role of Mississippi River nutrient runoff in determining the size of the dead zone. Nutrient pollution, primarily from agriculture and developed land runoff along the Mississippi River watershed, washes downstream into the GoM. A team of scientists led by Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium collected data to determine the size of the dead zone from July 24-31. The average size of the dead zone over the past five years has been about 5,806 square miles, three times larger than the Gulf Hypoxia Task Force target of 1,900 square miles. NOAA funds monitoring and research efforts to understand the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico through its Northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystems & Hypoxia Assessment program (NGOMEX). The annual measurement is used by the Gulf of Mexico/Mississippi River Watershed Nutrient Task Force to determine whether efforts to reduce nutrient pollution in the Mississippi River basin are working. (Source: NOAA 08/02/17) The impact could be devastating to the Gulf Coast's seafood industry, which accounts for more than 40 percent of the nation's seafood. Louisiana is second in seafood production only to Alaska.