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This reports presents the information gathered during a short (10-day) survey of the marine resources of Palmerston Island, Cook Islands, carried out in September 1988. The report essentially consolidates, in publishable form, the draft version of the survey results and fishery management recommendations presented to the Cook Islands Ministry of Marine Resources in early October 1988.

Ecotourism, along with "sustainable development" have emerged as common buzz words of the 1990s. They have both entered the common lexicon as society at a global scale struggles to reconcile the demands placed upon environmental systems by human activities with protection of those same systems so that they may continue to supply benefits into the future. Both terms are, therefore, at the heart of the most critical issue confronting humanity today. They are important.

The Solomon Islands are situated between latitudes 5°S - 12*S and longitudes 155°E - 170°E extending some 900 miles in a south-easterly direction from Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. The six main islands are each roughly 100 miles long by 30 miles wide and form a double chain flanked by smaller islands with a total land area of 11,000 square miles and a population, in 1976, of slightly less than 200,000. The climate is tropical/oceanic with day temperatures around 30°C, high humidity and rainfall varying from 90-300 inches per annum. Sea conditions are generally slight with south-easterly winds prevailing from April to November, North-westerly winds the remainder of the year, with the likelihood of cyclonic conditions in the latter period.