During the first half of the 1990s, in response to the increasing concern about many of the world’s fisheries and following the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), a number
of international fisheries instruments provided an impetus for countries to strengthen their fisheries management. A key step in supporting such efforts is the development of more detailed, systematic and comparable information on fisheries environments and management trends. The State of World Marine Capture Fisheries Management Questionnaire was developed by FAO in 2004 to help meet this need. The results for the Pacific Ocean have been grouped by region and reported in this publication. Today, we are able to look back to see how countries responded, to examine whether more fisheries are managed, and to determine whether the management tools and strategies employed have improved the overall situation in marine capture fisheries. Trends in legal and administrative frameworks, management regimes and status of marine capture fisheries are analysed for twenty-nine countries in the Pacific Ocean and presented in this report and on the accompanying CD-ROM as an easy-to-read and informative reference for policy decision-makers, fishery managers and stakeholders.