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World Seas: An Environmental Evaluation, Second Edition, Volume Two: The Indian Ocean to the Pacific provides a comprehensive review of the environmental condition of the seas from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific.

Until now, there has been only one source of data on global fishery catches: information reported to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations by member countries. An extensive, ten-year study conducted by The Sea Around Us Project of the University of British Columbia shows that this catch data is fundamentally misleading. Many countries underreport the amount of fish caught (some by as much as 500%), while others such as China significantly overreport their catches. The Global Atlas of Marine Fisheries is the first and only book to provide accurate, country-by-country fishery data. This groundbreaking information has been gathered from independent sources by the world’s foremost fisheries experts, and edited by Daniel Pauly and Dirk Zeller of the Sea Around Us Project. The Atlas includes one-page reports on 273 countries and their territories, plus fourteen topical global chapters. National reports describe the state of the country's fishery, by sector; the policies, politics, and social factors affecting it; and potential solutions. The global chapters address cross-cutting issues, from the economics of fisheries to the impacts of mariculture. Extensive maps and graphics offer attractive and accessible visual representations. While it has long been clear that the world’s oceans are in trouble, the lack of reliable data on fishery catches has obscured the scale, and nuances, of the crisis. The atlas shows that, globally, catches have declined rapidly since the 1980s, signaling an even more critical situation than previously understood. The Global Atlas of Marine Fisheries provides a comprehensive picture of our current predicament and steps that can be taken to ease it. For researchers, students, fishery managers, professionals in the fishing industry, and all others concerned with the status of the world’s fisheries, the Atlas will be an indispensable resource.

Conventional fisheries management has not been effective. Elsewhere, ecosystem approaches involving closed areas such as fish reserves have assisted in sustaining fisheries and conserving biodiversity. In the Pacific this ecosystem approach has been combined with traditional systems. This paper describes the ra’ui system from Rarotonga, Cook Islands, a Marine Protected Area from Ono, Fiji and village reserves in Samoa.

This document reviews actions taken by intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), including regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) and other relevant regional fishery bodies (RFBs), to address problematic sea turtle and seabird interactions in marine capture fisheries. Sea turtles and seabirds are subject to a number of natural and anthropogenic mortality sources, including fishing operations. As a result, all sea turtle species of known status are recognized as being endangered. All sea turtle species excluding the flatback are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulates international trade. Of the 61 species of seabirds affected by longline fisheries, 26 are threatened with extinction, including 19 species of albatrosses. The Convention on Migratory Species, which has a broader remit than CITES in terms of its requirements for both domestic and multilateral conservation measures, lists all sea turtles, albatrosses, giant petrels and Procellaria petrels in its Appendices. Due to concern over the status of sea turtles and certain species of seabirds and the possible negative effects of fishing on these populations, several IGOs have taken measures to address these problems. Some of these organizations have begun examining seabird or sea turtle interactions, several have adopted voluntary measures to address problematic interactions, while five RFMOs have legally binding measures requiring the employment of seabird avoidance methods in pelagic and demersal longline and trawl fisheries. There currently are no legally binding measures in place by an IGO to manage turtle-fishery interactions or seabird interactions in coastal gillnet fisheries. Several IGOs, which lack fisheries management authority, serve as advisory mechanisms and conduct cooperative research, or have a primary responsibility of regional sea turtle or seabird conservation.

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.