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Simplifying coral reef ecosystems to a single number for a country, or for a region, runs counter to our knowledge of the complexity and variability that characterise healthy reefs in a healthy ocean scape. The Pacific island region has very diverse corals and many types of reefs. Due to differences in the coral shapes and associated community of species, it is not possible to identify a single value as a health threshold for live coral cover. Instead, we can look for changes in live coral cover at a given reef, along with changes in species abundance and other factors that characterise a coral reef system.

Enterococci are used as an indicator for the microbiological quality of marine waters from the standpoint of human health. The same bacterial group is also commonly used as an indicator for safe consumption of shellfish. The safety thresholds differ by the type of use, such as swimming or consumption of seafood from the marine area.

Fishing is a complex topic with many species and ecosystem components as well as social, cultural, political, and economic components. Here, we focus on the defined indicator regarding tuna, considering the biomass of these pelagic fish as well as the ecosystems that support these fish. For information about coastal and nearshore fisheries, please see Regional Indicator: Coastal fish biomass.