The decision to develop a Regional Plan of Action on Sharks (PI-RPOA Sharks) for Pacific island countries and territories (PICTs)1 was a response to:
· the requirement for management of sharks2 in their national waters to be compatible with measures adopted by them as members/participating territories of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC);
Whale-watching has recently developed into an important industry within the South Pacific islands region (Economists @ Large & Associates. 2008a). In particular, the presence of humpback whales at high latitudes during the winter months has become of great interest over the last 10 years (Schaffar and Garrigue. 2007). In the Kingdom of Tonga, whale-watching activities began in 1994 and focus on a small population of humpback whales utilising the waters around Vava'u as their
Sepik Wetlands Management Initiative has promoted crocodile and wetlands conservation work in the Sepik (longest river on the island of New Guinea) through various strategies.
Fish is a mainstay of food security for Pacific island countries and territories (PICTs). Recent household income and expenditure surveys, and socio-economic surveys, demonstrate that subsistence fishing still provides the great majority of dietary animal protein in the region. Forecasts of the fish required in 2030 to meet recommended per capita fish consumption, or to maintain current consumption, indicate that even well-managed coastal fisheries will only be able to meet the demand in 6 of 22 PICTs.
In many developing regions of Melanesia, fishers’ traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) has been integrated with western science and management knowledge (SMK) to generate innovative and effective fisheries management. Previous research suggests that three factors initiate this process: depleted fishery stocks, limited SMK, and ownership of resources by local communities. In other contexts the extent of power-sharing through comanagement, and the cultural significance of species may also be important determinants of knowledge integration.