1. Develop and increase the potential of marine living resources to meet human nutritional needs, as well as social, economic and development goals.

It is clear that, on a world-wide basis, fisheries landings have continued to decrease annually. This is probably due to the fact that most commercial fish stocks are over-fished and their numbers have fallen. As a result of this trend the income of people employed in the fishing industry has fallen even thought the number of people fishing has remained relatively constant. Many states are concerned by this trend and have implemented a number of methods in order to allow stocks to recover.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry of Australia (AFFA) has imposed tight management controls to ensure that commercial species are not over fished. These include: limitations on the number of licenses, seasonal closures, and gear restrictions, and quotas that each limits the amount of fish that can be caught.

2. Take into account traditional knowledge and interests of local communities, small-scale artisanal fisheries and indigenous people in development and management programs.

Traditional methods of fisheries management in artisanal fisheries such as those on Pacific islands have remained unchanged for centuries. These methods of resource use, however, often conflict with western concepts of continuous sustainability. As a result many indigenous peoples have abandoned traditional methods in favour of the new techniques that are likely to provide short-term increases in income. This has led to the loss of much of the traditional knowledge in indigenous peoples in many places around the globe as a result. Ironically, the Kingdom of Tonga, which has never had a western government system, has experienced the greatest loss of traditional knowledge.

It is important to remember that this knowledge provides varied examples of how marine resource ownership works in different situations. Although there have been government attempts to suppress this tradition in the past, it is now evident that these methods are valuable in managing coastal fisheries. Unfortunately, much of the knowledge of Pacific islanders that has been developed on the behaviour and seasonality of reef fishes is unwritten and is passed down through the generations by word of mouth and has been lost.

As reef fisheries are starting to experience sustainability problems, attempts have been made to promote a return to the tradition of community resource ownership in order to allow sustainable exploitation of the fisheries. Pacific islands, however, are generally capable of supporting themselves on the fisheries as a result of this tradition.

3. Maintain or restore populations of marine species at levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield as qualified by relevant environmental and economic factors, taking into consideration relationships among species.

As the level of fishing effort has increased, through advances in technology and a rise in the number of fishing vessels, a greater quantity of a given stock can be extracted. This has led to a reduction in the species� capacity to reproduce in high numbers and therefore a reduction in the stock. This is turn has promoted a greater fishing effort in order to catch these reduced stocks thus exacerbating the problem and leading to smaller catches. If this trend is to be reversed, the stocks must be given time to recover in order for the almost mythical Maximum Sustainable Yield to be achieved. Unfortunately, most fisheries scientists nowadays realise that achieving this goal is unrealistic.

There are many management schemes in operation around the world that are attempting to reduce the level of fishing effort in order to promote fisheries recovery. These include permanent closures and other measures that protect juvenile or breeding fish and the habitats that they rely upon.

4. Promote the development and use of selective fishing gear and practices that minimise waste in the catch of target species and minimise by-catch of non-target species.

Non-selective fishing accounts for 20 million tons of by-catch annually and this serves to compound the problem of over-fishing and slow the recovery of many over-fished species. A quarter of the annual global catch of marine fish and four times the catch of U.S fishermen is thrown overboard as by-catch which can be defined as: �the unintentional removal of marine life associated with commercial fishing operations�.

There have been numerous attempts to promote the use of selective fishing gear in order to reduce by-catch. In 1998, the British Fisheries Minister, Elliot Morley announced grants that would be available to fisherman changing to selective fishing equipment under the EU programme known as PESCA.

5. Protect and restore endangered marine species.

Many of the world�s marine species can be designated as endangered but very few of them are protected by law. The Commonwealth Endangered Species Protection Act was passed in 1992 but there are only a few marine species listed under it. The Great White shark and Grey Nurse shark are listed as vulnerable under this act and the Great White shark is a protected species in South Africa, Namibia, California, Florida, the Maldives, and all Australian territorial waters.

Many nations have passed their own Endangered Species Acts in order to promote the recovery of species that are endangered or threatened as a result of anthropogenic activities. These acts also allow the habitat of the species in question to be preserved as well.

However, some of the species that have been designated with protection status have shown signs of recovery such as the Great White Shark whose numbers have increased following the serious population collapse of the past thirty years. These species that have shown signs of recovery can be seen as good examples of the benefits of protecting marine species.

6. Preserve rare or fragile ecosystems, as well as habitats and other ecologically sensitive areas.

It is widely accepted that in order to protect or allow fish stocks to recover then certain habitats or ecosystems must be protected. These habitats include: nursery grounds, breeding sites, and so on. One of the methods used to accomplish this is by designating an area a Marine Protected Area (MPA). The U.S Executive order 13158, which was signed in May, 2000, defines MPAs as �any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by Federal, State, territorial, tribal, or local laws or regulations to provide lasting protection for part or all of the natural and cultural resources therein�. This order also states that �an expanded and comprehensive system of marine protected areas throughout the marine environment would enhance the conservation of U.S natural and cultural marine heritage and the ecologically and economically sustainable use of the marine environment for future generations�. This order serves to provide the U.S with a national network of MPA�s that will allow many ecologically significant areas to be protected. Executive Order 13158 also requires that the U.S develop a national list of MPAs in order to understand which areas are already subject to any degree of protection and requires that the U.S maintain this networks of areas and to maximise their effectiveness.