National-scale marine bioregions for the Southwest Pacific

Existing marine bioregions covering the Pacific Ocean are conceptualised at spatial scales that are too broad for national marine spatial planning. Here, we developed the first combined oceanic and coastal marine bioregionalisation at national scales, delineating 262 deep-water and 103 reef-associated bioregions across the southwest Pacific. The deep-water bioregions were informed by thirty biophysical environmental variables. For reef-associated environments, records for 806 taxa at 7369 sites were used to predict the probability of observing taxa based on environmental variables. Both deep-water and reef-associated bioregions were defined with cluster analysis applied to the environmental variables and predicted species observation probabilities, respectively to classify areas with high taxonomic similarity. Local experts further refined the delineation of the bioregions at national scales for four countries. This work provides marine bioregions that enable the design of ecologically representative national systems of marine protected areas within offshore and inshore environments in the Pacific

Improving community-based fisheries management in Pacific island countries

Inshore fisheries are central to the rural economies and food supply of Pacific Island Countries (PICs), supplying food and serving as one of the few sources of cash for rural people. These fisheries are crucial elements in filling the shortfall in fish supply predicted to confront many PICs in the coming decades. No other production sector can fill the shortfall in supply in the medium term so securing a sustainable supply of fish from coastal fisheries is crucial