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This image highlights major upwelling areas along the world's coasts in red. Upwelling occurs when winds blowing across the ocean surface push water away from an area and subsurface water rises up from beneath the surface to replace the diverging surface water. These subsurface waters are typically colder, rich in nutrients, and biologically productive. Therefore, good fishing grounds typically are found where upwelling is common. For example, the rich fishing grounds along the west coasts of Africa and South America are supported by year-round coastal upwelling.

Animation of tide currents