Recent studies have shown that many coral reefs are capable of
yielding a total fish catch of 18- 24 T.Km-2 (Hill, 1978; Alcala,
1981; Munro, 1987). There are, however, no estimates for the
productivity and yield of fishes associated with coral reefs in
French Polynesia. This study was designed to determine the fisheries yield from a part of the fringing reef on the island of Moorea, French Polynesia.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 22 p.
Coral reefs are vital ecosystems, providing a source of income, food arid coastal protection for millions of people; arid recent studies have shown that coral reef goods and services provide an annual net benefit of US$30 billion to economies worldwide
During the period February 13 to 20, 1973, a visit was made to Canton Island for the purpose of conducting a preliminary survey of marine turtle nesting populations. Although previous investigators have described the sea birds (Buddle, 1938; Murphy G., 1954), insects (Van Zwaluwenburg, 1943, 1955), and vegetation (Hatheway, 1955), very little is known about the marine environment of Canton or the other seven atolls (Enderbury, Birnie, Phoenix, Sydney, Hull, Gardner and McKean) which comprise the Phoenix group.
More than 20 cetacean species are known to exist in the
Pacific Islands Region, which encompasses the U.S. Exclusive
Economic Zone, or EEZ (waters out to 370 km from shore) around
the entire Hawaiian Archipelago. Johnston Atoll. Kingman Reef and Palmyra Atoll. Baker and Howland Islands. Jarvis Island. American Samoa. Wake Island, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, totaling some 5.8 million km2 of ocean.
Many of the species present are poorly studied throughout their
The Department of the Navy (DoN) is committed to demonstrating environmental stewardship while executing its national defense mission. The United States (U.S.) Navy (Navy) is responsible for
Microbenthos and macrobenthos were quantitatively studied at 62 stations distributed regularly over the Uvea Atoll lagoon (850 km2). Sampling was performed using both SCUBA and a 0.1 m2 Smith Mclntyre grab. Mean estimates of ATP, chlorophyll a and phaeopigments were 297.3ng/cm2, 77.01 mg/m2 and 35.28 mg/m2
respectively. The mean macrobenthic biomass was 4.14 gAFDW/m2 of which the macrophytobenthos accounts for 39%. The benthic biomass decreased from the coast to the deepest parts of the lagoon. Macrophytes were most abundant in the coastal area
France has an important role and extensive responsibilities in protecting the world's oceans. It is the world's third
largest maritime power with an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covering 11 million km2, and has the fourth
largest area of coral reefs representing biodiversity hotspots.
According to a recent Nature Conservancy assessment, only 1% of marine areas (as against 12 % of all land
areas) are officially protected today, despite government commitments under the UN Convention on Biological
There is a high level of uncertainty with the specific estimation of pollutant loads. A large body of work has
been completed that provided qualitative and quantitative data; however, the noting of data gaps and inherent uncertainties of the methods used have qualified much of the quantitative data. Much of the data are based on rapid assessment methods that utilise generic loading rates, assumed waste flow composition, typical production methods, local production rates. Unfortunately, production rate data are inconsistently available and are difficult to verify.
To date, few quantitative assessments of the marine resources of Palau have been conducted. For the off-shore tuna fishery, reasonable data time-series are available for the foreign access tuna fishery, but data for domestically based tuna operations are incomplete. For the near-shore fishery, reef resources are exploited by subsistence, commercial and recreational fishermen. Very few data are available that document trends in production for most reef-resident and reef-associated fisheries resources in Palau, except for the trochus fishery.
Spearfishing is growing in importance in the Pacific Islands. While its management has featured as a topic in some regional-level meetings, detailed information on spearfishing is surprisingly scarce. In early 1994, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) proposed to consolidate information on
This report presents the results of a twelve day survey expedition (5 to 16 December, 2004) and represents the first ever systematic effort to document the marine biodiversity of the Great Sea Reef (GSR), locally known as Cakaulevu, to the north of Vanua Levu in the Fiji Archipelago. 23 sites were surveyed over 6 major habitat types: outer barrier reefs, back barrier reefs, channels, mangrove island fringing reefs, rocky island fringing reef and submerged patch reefs.
Kept in vertical file collection|Also available electronically
Call Number: VF 6834 [EL]
The Marshall Islands are critically dependent on the health of their coral reefs: every rock and sand grain on the islands are the remains of coral reef organisms. Only actively growing coral reefs can protect the islands against ocean waves and global sea level rise, and provide fish to feed the people. These crucial services are rapidly deteriorating because global warming is
The study of marine sediments provides useful information in marine, environmental and geochemical research about pollution of the marine environment (Calace et al. 2005). Urban developments and industrial activities contribute to the introduction of significant amounts of contaminants (among them trace metals) into the marine environment and affect directly the coastal systems where they are often deposited (Angelidis 1995; Dassenakis et al. 2003).
In general, leatherback turtles face serious threats at all life stages, both on the beaches where they nest and hatch and in the water where they spend most of their life time. Sea turtle eggs are collected for food, while in some areas juveniles and adults are hunted for their meat and oil. Habitats that are keys to their survival are rapidly being degraded due to coastal development. They are also killed in great numbers as incidental catch, or by catch, in fisheries.
The World's oceans play a crucial role for life on the planet.
Healthy seas and the services they provide are key to the future
development of mankind. Our seas are highly dynamic, structured and complex systems. The seafloor consists of vast shelves
and plains with huge mountains, canyons and trenches which
dwarf similar structures on land. Ocean currents transport water
masses many times larger than all rivers on Earth combined.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
ISBN/ISSN: 978-82-7701-048-9
GOOS is being implemented in the Pacific islands region by PacificGOOS, which was formed in Suva in 1998. In August 2000, in Apia, Samoa, PacificGOOS held a regional workshop on the development of a coastal Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) for the Pacific region. This workshop aimed to raise the level of awareness about PacificGOOS and its value for sustainable
Over the past decade, there has been growing interest in working with local communities to establish marine protected areas to help conserve dwindling marine resources. Given the urgent
The Gilbert Islands are a part of the- Gilbert and Ellice
Islands Crown Colony of Great Britain, They lie in the
Pacific Ocean directly southeast of the Marshall Islands
and straddle the equator from 3 degrees North Latitude to
3 degrees South Latitude. All are low islands and most are
atolls. They are densely inhabited by Micronesian people
who are greatly dependent on the sea for food.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 259 p.
Rarotonga and Aitutaki form the summits of separate
volcanic masses rising from depths of 4000 m, at which depth
the cones are 45-55 km in diameter (Summerhayes and Kibblewh
1966, 1967).The lower slopes of the cones average 15-25
increasing to 30 in the upper 750 m and becoming very steep
the surface reef is approached. The Mauke-Aitutaki line of
islands is thought to be of early Tertiary age: the surface
volcanics are much eroded, with a subdued topography, or are
capped with limestones (Wood, 1967; Wood and Hay, 1970). On
Knowledge of the fishermen of Tarawa Atoll, Kiribati concerning some key food fish in their waters is described and shown to be highly relevant to the management of these fish. The bonefish, Albula glossodonta, has been the most important shallow- water finfish in Tarawa catches. However, all but one of its known spawning runs has been eliminated according to fishermen and this last remaining run is showing signs of