America’s EEZ is an area of nearly 4.5 million square miles – 23% larger than the land area of the US - stretching from the Arctic ocean to the tropics composed of at least 11 different ecosystems.

The ecosystems are relatively large regions on the order of 200,000 sq. km. or greater, characterized by distinct: (1) bathymetry, (2) hydrography, (3) productivity, and (4) trophically dependent populations.

US EEZ encompass the eleven following Large Marine Ecosystems:
1. East Bering Sea – off eastern Alaska
2. Gulf of Alaska – off the south of Alaska
3. California Current – off the west coast
4. Gulf of Mexico – off the south cost
5. SE U.S. Continental Shelf – off the NE US
6. Northeast U. S. Continental Shelf – Off the SE US
7. Insular Pacific Hawaiian – Around Hawaiian Islands
8. Caribbean Sea - Caribbean
9. Chukchi Sea – North of the Bering Strait
10. Beaufort Sea – Off northern Alaska
11. Unnamed Central Pacific Marine ecosystem – Including the Line Islands.

An ecosystem is defined as a system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment. All life on Earth resides within ecosystems.

Ecosystems are bounded by physical conditions that interact with the life that is adapted to them. If the spiraling degradation of coastal and marine ecosystems globally is to be reversed so that these ecosystems continue to provide both livelihood benefits to coastal communities and foreign exchange to governments, a more ecosystem-based management approach needs to be implemented. It is concluded that the fragmentation and competition characteristic of coastal ocean activities should be overcome and stakeholders enlisted as a force for reform in the economic sectors creating the stress on marine ecosystems. 

Currently, following the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002) a global effort is underway by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC), other United Nations agencies, and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to improve the long-term sustainability of resources and environments of the world's Large Marine Ecosystems (LMES) and linked watersheds. Large Marine Ecosystems are regions of ocean space encompassing coastal areas from river basins and estuaries to the seaward boundaries of continental shelves and the outer margins of the major current systems. They are relatively large regions on the order of 200,000 km2 or greater, characterized by distinct: (1) bathymetry, (2) hydrography, (3) productivity, and (4) trophically dependent populations.

America’s Ocean Challenge seeks to educate the general public and provide the understanding  and support for new policies and actions. It is our hope to eliminate the causes of transboundary environmental and resource-use practices that are leading to serious degradation of coastal environments, linked watersheds, and losses in biodiversity and food security from overexploiting of marine ecosystems.

Implicit in the conclusions of the two recent ocean commission reports, the Pew’s Ocean Commission (POC), 2003, and the United States Commission on Ocean Policy (USCOP), 2004, is the requirement to manage the health of marine ecosystems. As the Pew’s Ocean Commission puts it “Marine scientists need to develop an understanding of what good health means for each major ecosystem in U.S. ocean waters, and then policymakers and those who use ocean resources need to practice preventative medicine.” 

The USCOP reflects the same conclusion with the statement, “The Commission recommends moving toward an ecosystem-based management approach by focusing on three cross-cutting themes: (1) a new, coordinated national ocean policy framework to improve decision making; (2) cutting edge ocean data and science translated into high-quality information for managers; and (3) lifelong ocean-related education to create well-informed citizens with a strong stewardship ethic. These themes are woven throughout the report, appearing again and again in chapters dealing with a wide variety of ocean challenges.”  These are the goals of America's Ocean Challenge.

It is clear that for these changes to occur the stakeholders have to be engaged in addressing these issues. The primary stakeholder of America’s EEZ in the US is the public at large. Research by agencies such as The Ocean Project, The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Frameworks and others, have concluded that the understanding of these is issues by the general public is low. America’s Ocean Challenge is the program designed to address the chasm of understanding between the general public and the profound knowledge that science has provided in the recent past decades.

AOC’s Core Program Content—EEZ Ecosystems:
AOC’s Scientific Advisory Group has endorsed the presentation of America’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) marine ecosystems as the umbrella strategy with which to educate the public about the value and vulnerability of our marine resources.  The U.S. EEZ was proclaimed by President Reagan on March 10, 1983 using the legal precepts of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (which has yet to be ratified by the USA).

AOC Program will use examples of marine organisms that exemplify the structure and function of marine ecosystems. The program will encompass all 11 large marine ecosystems over the course of its development but rarely all in a single component. For example, the large format film will exemplify just five contrasting marine ecosystems within the EEZ and illustrate how specific species interact and function as part of the whole. The public will learn that these ecosystems are not isolated ecological units but, rather, part of a single living and connected ocean whose health is tied inextricably to the health and survival of all of life on Earth, including humans.

AOC components will convey scientific content about the faunas’ biological functions and ecological relationships; upon what they feed or prey; who preys upon them and how, where and when reproduction occurs; the fate of spawn, larvae and recruits; the trials and perils of the species’ lives and the interrelationships between species, as well as the environment and other organisms that make up the ecosystem.

The AOC program includes an integrated suite of inspirational/immersion components such as large format films and associated educational materials. Treatments will feature scientists whose research is related to ecosystem stories and will articulate reasons why we should be engaged in conserving our ecosystems.  The scientists’ work and on-camera interviews will show how the knowledgebase of science lays the foundation for rehabilitation of damaged marine ecosystems and their pathway to restoration of functionality. The AOC program intent is to inspire audiences and society to care not only about the fate of all marine life, but also the functionality and integrity of the ecosystems in which they live.

Specific EEZ Regions Identified for AOC Coverage:
The AOC Program has selected the following five EEZ Marine Ecosystems for the first large format film with which to educate the American public about the wonder and diversity of our marine heritage:

Eastern Bering Sea Ecosystem:
The Eastern Bering Sea ecosystem is characterized by its Sub-Arctic climate and is bounded by the Bering strait on the north, by the Alaskan Peninsula and Aleutian island chain on the south, and by the Alaskan coast on the east. It has a wide shelf and a seasonal ice cover that reaches its maximum extent of 80% coverage in March. Our program will examine the ecosystem function of a region near Unimak Pass just north of the Aleutian archipelago, where several ecosystem pillar species gather in June and July.

California Current Ecosystem: 
This ecosystem is characterized by a temperate climate that is a transition ecosystem between subtropical and sub arctic water masses with an upwelling coastal phenomenon. The California Current Ecosystem is separated from the Gulf of Alaska by the Sub arctic Current, which flows eastward from the western Rim of the Pacific Ocean. The AOC program will examine the relationship of a suite of species within this ecosystem, featuring the sea otter, whose influence controls the dynamics of the nearshore environment.

Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf Ecosystem: 
The Northeast US Continental Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem is characterized by its temperate climate. It extends from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras along the Atlantic Ocean. Scientists are examining the changing ecosystem states and the relative health of four major sub areas: the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, Southern New England and the estuarine-dominated waters of the Mid-Atlantic Bight. Historically this ecosystem has been one of the most productive of the Northern Hemisphere. Today, for numerous anthropogenic reasons it is considerably less economically productive. The AOC program will present this ecosystem through the lens of one of its rarest inhabitants, the North Atlantic Right Whale. This species and its viability is used metaphorically for the health and sustainability of the entire ecosystem.

Southeast U.S. Continental Shelf Ecosystem: 
This southeast continental shelf ecosystem is characterized by its temperate climate. It borders the Atlantic Ocean, extending from the Straits of Florida to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It contains many bays and sounds, and extensive coastal marshes that provide unique habitats for living marine resources. This ecosystem is presented in the large format film using the goliath grouper, one of the large charismatic megafauna of the region to illustrate ecosystem structure and function.

The as-yet unmanned Pacific Island Large Marine Ecosystem includes the Line Islands of the central tropical Pacific Ocean. Our program will explore the unique qualities and speices of this system.