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The overall objective of the community consultations is to gather basic key information on resource uses in Palau. One of the most direct means of collecting that information is to ask the resource users themselves. They are the people who have first-hand knowledge of the local uses and current state of many of the terrestrial and marine resources in the country.

Overfishing, damaging pollution, habitat destruction and other impacts of human activities in the sea and from land are causing increasing damage to coastal and marine environments. Current management systems are failing to sustain the productivity, biological diversity and ecosystem services of marine ecosystems. The consequences of this failure are serious and far-reaching. The most obvious effect is seen in impacts on the longstanding and widespread use of marine resources for sea food. While the global fish catch stabilised briefly in the 1980s (Watson & Pauly 2001) it has since then been in consistent decline (Pauly et al 2002).

Live flsh have long been traded around Southeast Asia as a luxury food item. Fish captured on coral reefs entered this trade only in recent years but, because of their superior taste or texture, have become the most valued fish in the trade. The majority of live reef food fish (LRFF} are Imported into Hong Kong. China either for local consumption or for transshipment to mainland People's Republic of China (PRC). The LRFF trade presently Includes a wide variety of fish, but Is dominated by several kinds of groupers. Retail prices for LRFF range from USS5 to SI80 per kilogram (kg), depending on species, taste, texture, availability, and time of year—prices rise during festive periods. Preferred size of fish (family-size) for consumption is 600 grams-1 kg. The trade is not well monitored, but Is likely to Involve at present about 18.000 tonnes (t) offish per year entering Hong Kong. China. The total regional trade may be around 30.000 t per year, with Hong Kong. China estimated to account for about 60% of the trade.

Vanuatu is an archipelago of 80 volcanic islands in the Western Pacific ocean with a population of 192,000, the majority of which are Melanesian. Approximately 79% of the population live in the rural areas, and depending on subsistence lifestyle of gardening, fishing and animal keeping. The islands are geologically young with narrow fringing reefs that support a limited marine and fisheries resources. These marine resources are important source of protein and a source of income from local sale of products such as fish, crabs, shellfish and lobsters. Trochus shell (T. niloticus); bech-de mer (Holothurians) and fish are an important source of income for the coastal people. The traditional practice of Customary Marine Tenure (CMT) system constitute the main resources management strategy for the marine resources throughout Vanuatu.

This report presents the result of the marine stock assessment survey conducted in Vanuatu from the period between 1998- 2000 on the status, abundance, distribution and diversity of beche-de-mer, giant clam, rock lobster and Coconut crab (Birgus latro) resources in the Vanuatu archipelago. These marine resources are socially and economically vital not only to the rural coastal people but also nationally. In remote rural areas of the country some of these resources may be the only form of cash crop available providing much needed cash for daily living and most importantly school fees and health fees.

This report contains the final results of the 2001 Census of Population and Dwellings undertaken on 1st December 2001. This census was conducted under the authority of the Statistics Act. 1966. The confidentiality provisions in this act provide against the release or publication of any particulars relating to individuals.

This report lias been prepared on behalf of the Environment Service, Cook Islands as part of an ongoing monitoring programme of reef health of the fringing reef of Rarotonga. The initial work was earned out in 2000 and this is the first subsequent sampling and report since that baseline study.

A checklist is given below of 1162 species of shore and epipelagic fishes belonging to 111 families that occur in the islands of Tonga, South Pacific Ocean; 40 of these are epipelagic species. As might be expected, the fish fauna of Tonga is most similar to those of Samoa and Fiji; at least 658 species of the fishes found in Tonga are also known from Fiji and the islands of Samoa. Twelve species of shore fishes are presently known only from Tonga. Specimens of Tongan fishes are housed mainly in the fish collections of the National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C.; Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu; Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris; and the Australian Museum, Sydney. Native Tongan names of fishes, when known, are presented after species names.

Over the past decade, there has been growing interest in working with local communities to establish marine protected areas to help conserve dwindling marine resources. Given the urgent nature of this problem, it is essential that project managers and communities learn how to best apply this approach and understand the conditions1 under which this strategy will most likely achieve success. In August 2000, and again in 2003, representatives of a number projects from across the Pacific and Southeast Asia came together in Fiji and the Philippines. Each of the projects is currently using some form of a locally-managed marine area (LMMA) strategy. The meetings were designed to allow these different projects to share and discuss their experiences in using locally-managed marine areas.