Pacific Islands Environment Outlook - UNEP

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MARINE AND COASTAL ENVIRONMENT 15 ensure that the problems of overcapacity and overexploitation (which have had severe economic and biological consequences world-wide) are not repeated in the region. The implications for PIDCs’ development in relation to reefs, inshore and offshore fisheries over the last ten years are highlighted below. Reefs Coral reefs are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet, and some living coral reefs may be as much as 2.5 million years old. Yet, in the last few decades, many of these ecosystems have been destroyed by human activities (Bryant et al. 1998). Species diversity for corals generally declines west to east across the Pacific. Most of the reefs support an exceptional diversity of fish, marine invertebrates and corals. During World War II, hundreds of vessels and a vast load of armaments were deposited on these reef systems, and during the past half century these war relics have been colonized by fish, sponges, soft corals and seaweed, attracting divers and fish. However, on Chuuk in FSM, people have removed explosives from munitions dumps to use for stunning and killing fish. Figure 1.4: Reefs at risk by region and country French Polynesia 6,000 km 2 82% 8% Fiji 10,000 km 2 33% 48% 19% New Caledonia 6,000 km 2 83% 13% 4% Papua New Guinea 12,000 km 2 50% 38% 12% Marshall Islands 6,000 km 2 97% 3% Solomon Islands 6,000 km 2 50% 42% 8% Region 108,000 km 2 59% 31% 10% Low risk Medium risk High risk Source: Bryant et al. 1998 PALAU 140° GUAM NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS Caroline Islands FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA MARSHALL ISLANDS 180° PACIFIC OCEAN L i n e 140° W Estimated threat to coral reefs Low risk Medium risk High risk Equator NAURU Gilbert Islands KIRIBATI Phoenix Is. I s l a n Kiritimati d s Equator AUSTRALIA PAPUA NEW GUINEA Coral Sea SOLOMON ISLANDS VANUATU NEW CALEDONIA TUVALU FIJI WALLIS AND FUTUNA TONGA SAMOA TOKELAU AMERICAN SAMOA NIUE Northern Cook Is. COOK IS. FRENCH POLYNESIA Tahiti Îs.de la Société Îs.Tubuai ÎS MARQUISES Îs.Tuamotu Îs.Gambier Tropic of Capricorn
16 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT Figure 1.5: Coastal fisheries production in PICs (tonnes/year, est. total) Papua New Guinea 25 554 80.5% Fiji 23 253 71.4% Kiribati 12 324 73.7% Solomon Islands 11 150 89.7% subsistence Micronesia 6 880 90.7% French Polynesia 6 043 61.1% 19.5% 28.6% 26.3% 10.3% 9.3% 38.9% Western Samoa 3 489 94.0% 6.0% New Caledonia 3 481 71.8% 28.2% Northern Marianas 2 966 95.2% 4.8% Vanuatu 2 512 81.4% 18.6% Marshall Islands 2 369 84.4% 15.6% Tonga 2 362 39.5% 60.5% Palau 1 485 50.5% 49.5% Cook Islands 982 87.4% 12.6% Tuvalu 927 87.0% 13.0% Wallis and Futuna 917 67.7% 32.3% Guam 591 67.7% 32.3% Nauru 376 26.0% 74.0% American Samoa 267 80.5% 19.5% Tokelau 191 100% Niue 115 89.6% 10.4% Pitcairn Island 8 100% Source: Dalzell and Adams (1994) commercial According to a 1994 survey, blasting has now killed 10 per cent of the reefs in the lagoon (Bryant et al. 1998). Fifty-nine per cent of the reefs in the Pacific have been assessed as being at low risk, 31 per cent as being at medium risk and 10 per cent as being at high risk (Bryant et al. 1998). Assessment criteria included proximity to coastal development, marine pollution, overexploitation, destructive fishing, and inland pollution and erosion (Bryant et al. 1998). Risk statistics for selected countries, and reef distribution are shown in Figure 1.4. Coastal fisheries The importance of subsistence fisheries (Figure 1.5) is underlined by data (World Bank 1995b) indicating that 83 per cent of coastal households of Solomon Islands, 35 per cent of rural households in Vanuatu, 50 per cent of rural households in Samoa, 87 per cent of all households in the Marshall Islands and 99 per cent of all households in Kiribati carry out fishing, primarily for home consumption. A World Bank report (1999) on coastal management in the Pacific has revealed that overfishing poses a major threat to many PICs. The report found that the most serious threats were overharvesting, pollution, garbage, logging and mining. Destructive fishing practices such as dynamiting and fish poisoning were also major problems. In order for the catches to recover, it is important to control harvesting and allow the resources to reproduce. It was also recognized that many communities had limited capacity to control their own fishing practices and pollution sources. Oceanic fisheries The commercial exploitation of marine resources is dominated for the most part by high-technology operations for harvesting highly migratory tuna. Harvesting of these resources (Table 1.3) is at present predominately undertaken by the fishing fleets of distant-water fishing nations, although it involves national tuna fisheries for both local consumption and export. Economic returns to Pacific island resource owners, such as fishing access fees, represent an insignificant proportion of an industry valued at approximately US$1.7 billion (Preston 1997). In the absence of potential domestic tuna industry development, for some PICs access fees remain the only economic return option. The sustainable management of such an important fisheries resource is the underlying motivation for the current negotiation
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Pacific Islands Environment Outlook - UNEP

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