How does upwelling support productive fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean?

Upwelling supports productive fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean by bringing cold, nutrient-rich subsurface water into the sunlit upper layers of the ocean. This process, often driven by wind-induced Ekman transport along coastlines or at divergence zones, creates ideal conditions for rapid phytoplankton reproduction.123

These plankton blooms serve as the essential foundation of the marine food web, providing abundant food for zooplankton and, subsequently, for various species of nekton and commercial fish. In the Atlantic, nearly all fish catches are harvested from continental shelf waters, with the most significant productivity occurring in these nutrient-rich upwelling regions, such as those off the coasts of northwestern and southern Africa, the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, and southeastern South America.324

Because these areas are so vital to marine life, the failure or disruption of upwelling—often influenced by changes in atmospheric circulation—can have disastrous effects on both the ecosystem and the stability of fisheries that depend on them.3