Due to its commitment to problem-solving, the socio-ecological systems (SES) concept has evolved over the last few decades to improve our understanding of the dynamic and complex interactions between humans and nature, providing a comprehensive approach to address current challenges associated with achieving sustainability. Marine habitats are particularly prone to forming coupled SES, which result in complex structures with adaptive attributes and processes that emerge from the interactions among their component systems. A notable coupled SES arises from the global food and energy demands on seascapes, generating a critical competition between the fishing and offshore oil industries. The southwestern Gulf of Mexico (SWGoM) is the origin of Mexico’s most important offshore oil activities, which, however, cause unintended consequences due to their coexistence with the fishing industry, particularly small-scale fisheries. A systematic understanding of the SWGoM as a shared resource seascape is essential for this complex space, which is managed through overlapping federal governance structures and socio-political interests. Our work characterizes the spatiotemporal overlaps and transformations within this coupled SES, while considering innovative methodological approaches that map and analyze industry interactions for building trust, fostering collaborative agreements, and developing sustainable solutions to resource conflicts.