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Baseline information on seabirds is urgently needed, particularly to determine presence of remnant populations of petrels and shearwaters to enable management actions to developed for their protection, enhancement and/or restoration to these islands.

Bioregions are spatial units of the marine environment that host similar biota, and can serve to provide spatially explicit surrogates of biodiversity for marine conservation and management,

This book is an attempt to address two main difficulties we have encountered in our teaching and practice of international environmental law. One is of a substantive nature and stems from the daunting reach and diversity of the subject matter. No other area of international law gives the newcomer such an impression of dispersion, lack of articulation, even exoticism. The topics gathered under the label international environmental law range from the protection of wetlands or whales or genetic resources to nuclear energy, ozone depletion or hazardous waste control.

Vava’u, Kingdom of Tonga, is a well-established whale-watching destination in the South Pacific. Between July and October, the waters around the archipelago represent one of the most important breeding grounds for Oceania humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). The Tongan government allows tourist swimming activities with whales and tour operators strongly promote the practice of swimming-with-whales, focusing primarily on mother-calf pairs. However, there is increasing evidence, derived from empirical research on swim-withcetacean tourism, that this kind of interaction affects cetacean behaviour and can lead to negative effects on the cetaceans involved. This study represents the first assessment of humpback whales’ behavioural responses to vessel and swimmer approaches in Vava’u. Fifty-six surveys took place during the 2016 and 2017 whale breeding seasons aboard dedicated research and tour vessels. Whale dive time, number of reorientation events, and respiration rates were documented in both the absence and presence of boats and swimmers. Vessel approach type, swimmer placement, and whale avoidance responses were also recorded

The ocean drives the processes that make our planet capable of supporting life, and contains some of the world’s most complex and diverse ecosystems.1 But these ecosystems are increasingly under threat. Pollution, overfishing, offshore drilling and other human activities are destroying ocean habitat and threatening marine species, with profound consequences for the biodiversity on which the health of our ocean depends.2 A growing number of scientists and conservationists are coalescing around the goal of protecting at least 30 percent of the world’s ocean by 2030 through networks of marine protected areas (MPAs) – protected zones of ocean where extractive and destructive human activity is limited.

Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) are exploited for their beautiful shell known as tortoiseshell or bekko, making them extremely vulnerable in the illegal global trade of tortoiseshell products. In this study, we developed an effective, standardized method using a commercially available kit to extract DNA and obtain informative mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences (∼800 bp) from hawksbill turtle products in order to trace the sample back to a likely stock origin. We also sequenced additional skin samples from nesting beaches of Milman Island, Australia and Arnavon Island, Solomon Islands to add to the baseline data for hawksbill turtles in the Indo-Pacific. Our results indicate that nine of the 13 tortoiseshell products obtained from Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands were from turtles with haplotypes found primarily at the Solomon Islands rookery and did not match those from nesting populations in Australia or SE Asia, with the exception of one haplo type also found in 3% of turtles at Milman Island. We also found that 23% of the market samples have haplo types only documented in foraging populations, which illustrates the urgent need for more extensive sampling of rookeries to fill gaps in the reference baseline database. Nevertheless, our study results demonstrate an effective methodology for obtaining DNA of sufficient quantity and quality from hawks bill turtle products.

Fiji has demonstrated a strong commitment to cetacean conservation via national, regional and international plans and agreements. To provide baseline information in support of these efforts, this paper provides an updated listing of cetacean species found in Fijian waters and identifies locations where cetaceans have been noted on a consistent basis. Information for this review was sourced from peer-reviewed publications, field reports, historical whaling records, national consultations, anecdotal and opportunistic sources, as well as a national database held by the Fiji Government’s Department of Fisheries. Reliable and recent records were confirmed for 10 cetacean species in Fijian waters. In addition, less reliable records and regional species’ information provides support for the occurrence of at least 14 additional species or groups of similar-looking species that could not be identified more specifically. Thirteen hotspot areas within the Fiji Economic Exclusive Zone were preliminarily identified as being particularly important for cetaceans, including numerous sites within the Vatu-i-Ra and Lomaiviti passages and surrounding waters. Issues with the available data include uneven coverage, inherent biases within available sources, and difficulties with species identification and verification in some cases. Nevertheless, it is hoped that this review will provide a reference point from which to move forward with cetacean management and conservation efforts in Fiji.