Samoa has a Marine Resources Use Policy, and is working towards the delineation of its EEZ with the assistance of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the SOPAC.
Traditionally Samoans rely on marine resources for their well-being and daily required sustenance. Over 70% of villages are located on the coastal fringe of the islands, and subsistence fishing is a major activity of the inhabitants of such villages. Fisheries also play an extremely important role in the economy of Samoa as well as contributing significantly to the health and nutrition of the people. Fisheries are the major income-earner for the country. Offshore fisheries, in particular the tuna sector, have been recently developed and now are the most valuable among fisheries contributing significantly to Samoa’s economy. However, pressures arising as a result of overfishing, inshore environment degradation, ongoing coastal developments, pollution, and natural disasters have adversely affected the coastal resources and marine environment.
23 October 2010: Palau’s Minister of the Environment, Natural Resources and Tourism, Harry Fritz, announced the creation of a marine sanctuary for whales, dolphins and dugongs during Oceans Day, held on 23 October 2010, on the sidelines of the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan.
The sanctuary covers all of Palau’s Exclusive Economic Zone - more than 600,000 square kilometers – where “the...
October 2010: The UN University (UNU) has published a report on local management approaches for enhancing marine biodiversity in the Pacific.
The report is the product of a process coordinated by the Traditional Knowledge Initiative of the UNU–Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) to foster dialogue on traditional marine management areas of the Pacific in the context of national and international law and policy. The report incorporates information from two dialogue sessions and four workshops...
29 October 2010: The 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) concluded on 29 October in Nagoya, Japan, with the adoption of: the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization, which, after seven years of negotiations, sets out rules and procedures for implementing the Convention’s third objective; the CBD Strategic Plan for the period 2011-2020, including...
