The Gulf of Mexico will be the focal point for the largest restoration efforts ($20+ billion) ever conceived for the Gulf of Mexico. It will consume the northern (USA) Gulf’s coastal policy and politics, state and federal resource management, and conservation activities for at least fifteen years as the settlement agreement plays out. A key issue will be an effective adaptive management approach built on sound science and coordinated monitoring to learn from mistakes and build on successes of early restoration efforts.
The timing of this Summit provides an unprecedented opportunity to effectively address some of the many issues we face in bringing the Gulf together in common cause. The Gulf has never before had the resources to address fundamental issues affecting its health and productivity. Gulf science has never been better positioned to support decision-makers and resource managers in addressing resource priorities and prepare for future ones. The potential of international cooperation between the USA, Mexico and Cuba to work together on a Gulf-wide scale has never been so real.
The State of the Gulf Summit 2017 will address these challenges by focusing on the following questions: