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The Vanuatu Coral Reef Monitoring Network Project (VCRMN) is a regional network funded under the Canada South Pacific Ocean Development (CSPOD) programme coordinated by the University of the South Pacific's Institute of Marine Studies at the School of Marine studies Programme (MSP) in Suva Fiji. Under the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, the Pacific Node is divided into Polynesian Mana. Micronesian node and South West Pacific Node which covers the Melanesian region. The initiative is a continuation of the former SPREP coordinated coral reef monitoring programme that ended in 1998 without establishing national monitoring programmes in the node member countries.

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.

The purpose of this survey is to assist the Fisheries Department in gathering data for the stock assessment program so management strategies can be formulated for the long term. This stock assessment survey was year two of a three-year program. The survey encompassed the Torba Province, which is the northern most province of the Vanuatu group and is made up of the Banks and Torres group of islands. The species surveyed were beche-de-mer, rock lobsters, giant clams, and coconut crabs. This area has not been surveyed before so this will provide a base line for future surveys and play an integral part in formulating management plans for the fishery.

One of the greatest challanges we face in protecting our islands biodiversity is how to balance the needs of the people that use it, and the future of the environment. There are many reasons why the Pacific islands way of life is endangered, it is necessary to address these threats, all of them. Understand ing their causes will help to stop them, if it is possible or to change or adapt our way of life. It is necessary to focus on long term sustainability strategies, but in the mean time develop and carry out short term projects to address the immediate needs of our islands. As educators you can actively participate in the islands ecosystems, traditions and way of life protection by engaging your students in a productive and active learning experience about what the Pacific islands are facing.

Fishers have changed their methods from wading in the shallows to the use of sail and paddle canoes, and dinghies with outboard motors. This has resulted in greater coverage of the area where sea cucumbers live, more regular fishing, access to remote areas and the capacity to transport greater catches. Loss of much larger numbers of sea cucumbers from many areas as a result of this increased fishing pressure reduces the chances of adults remaining at densities high enough for effective reproduction. When sea cucumbers are 'thinned out' by over-fishing, they are not always able to find mates to breed with during the spawning season.

Highlands Pacific Limited is currently seeking finance for the development of a Nickel-Cobalt mine in Madang Province. Papua New Guinea. The mine will be located near the Ramu River, with processing facilities at Basamuk Bay on the Rai Coast. Basainuk Bay is a small embayment of the larger Astrolabe Bay. Highlands Pacific plans to dispose of mill tailings through a submarine outfall into Astrolabe Bay. Oceanographic conditions in Astrolabe Bay make this practise inadvisable if consideration is given to the ecological health of the Madang region.

Healthy marine resources require healthy, intact ecosystems. Marine and coastal ecosystems are highly productive and deliver various goods and services that support communities and economies, including food security, clean water, recreational opportunities and other benefits. Effective area-based protection, through MPAs, helps maintain ecosystem health and productivity, while safeguarding social and economic development. They also help maintain the full range of genetic variation, essential in securing viable populations of key species, sustaining evolutionary processes and ensuring resilience in the face of natural disturbances and human use (Agardy and Staub 2006).

Research findings of the past decade have led to mounting concern that rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations will cause changes in the ocean’s carbonate chemistry system, and that those changes will affect some of the most fundamental biological and geochemical processes of the sea. Thanks to the efforts of large-scale physical and biogeochemical ocean programs such as WOCE, JGOFS, and OACES, ocean-wide changes in the carbonate system are now well documented. Since 1980 ocean uptake of the excess CO2 released by anthropogenic activities is significant; about a third has been stored in the oceans. The rate of atmospheric CO2 increase, however, far exceeds the rate at which natural feedbacks can restore the system to normal conditions. Oceanic uptake of CO2 drives the carbonate system to lower pH and lower saturation states of the carbonate minerals calcite, aragonite, and high-magnesium calcite, the materials used to form supporting skeletal structures in many major groups of marine organisms.

This is a brief report on one aspect of the Team 1, 2008 project work, being a report on the oil/diesel seen to be leaking from two sites, Hoyo Maru and Rio de Janeiro Maru. A more comprehensive report on all Team 1, 2008 outcomes will be produced and provided to the Chuuk Department of Marine Resources and the Chuuk Historic Preservation Office.