Issue 2, February 2018

Fishermen and farmers unite to combat the Gulf of Mexico dead zone

Fishermen across the northern Gulf of Mexico are all too familiar with the “dead zone”, the largest recurring hypoxic zone in the United States. But what causes the dead zone to form? More importantly, what can we do to reduce its harmful impacts? The answer: collaboration.

The dead zone is a product of the mighty Mississippi River, which drains an area that spans approximately 40% of the continental United States, or roughly 1.2 million square miles. The Mississippi River borders or passes through 10 different states, including the Midwestern states of Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Nitrogen-rich material, such as fertilizer, drains into the Mississippi River and is discharged into the northern Gulf of Mexico. This influx of nitrogen triggers explosions of microscopic organisms (plankton), which quickly die and sink to the bottom. Once on the bottom, they decompose, which depletes the available oxygen at the seafloor. Without oxygen, mobile fish and invertebrates leave the area; creatures that can’t leave die.

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