Fisheries Of The Pacific Islands

Fisheries in the Pacific: The Challenges of Governance and Sustainability is a multidisciplinary book, which examines various aspects of coastal and oceanic fisheries in Pacific waters. These interrelated fisheries sectors are critical for regional food security and also represent a reserve of food resources for the rest of the world. The introduction and eight chapters highlight that both these sectors raise major economic and ecological issues while revealing significant social changes, political asymmetries and alliances, geostrategic rationales, developments in legislation, customary dynamics, and conservation challenges. Through complementary approaches and interpretations of both quantitative and qualitative data, this book aims to contribute to a better understanding of the current situation of fisheries in the Pacific. It also responds to the compelling need to establish a constructive and ongoing dialogue on the matter between social scientists and environmental scientists, based in Europe and in the Pacific Islands, and between these experts and the various stakeholders and policy-making institutions involved in the Pacific region.

"The fishing industry benefits the people and economies of the Pacific in various ways but the full value of these benefits is not reflected in the region's statistics. Records may be maintained but they are not complete, or accurate, or comparable. The research summarized in this report reaffirms the importance of this sector to the economies and societies of the Pacific island countries." --Publisher.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is increasing in world fisheries and is proving to be a major obstacle in the achievement of long term sustainability and enhanced responsibility in fisheries. The model national plan of action to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing outlined in this document seeks to facilitate the wider implementation of the 2001 FAO International Plan of Action to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IPOA-IUU) in the Pacific Islands region. Action towards this end is consistent with the large number of calls that have been made in international fora for states, industry and other stakeholders to take steps to implement the IPOA-IUU.