Nonetheless, co-management has been particularly useful in small-scale fisheries [1] and [20]. Operationalising an EAF can, however, be arduous for managers in low-income and island countries. The process involves the diagnosis of the fishery, defining and prioritising management objectives, setting of regulatory measures to achieve the objectives and actions by the manager to implement and monitor those measures [11] and [21]. Ideally, all of these steps should be undertaken jointly with stakeholders selleck chemicals in the fishery.

A consultative process allows for discussion of key uncertainties, logistic constraints and practicality of implementing various management measures [11] and [22]. The management solutions must concurrently arise within the technical and human resource capacity of management http://www.selleckchem.com/products/ch5424802.html institutions. Small-scale coastal fisheries in Pacific Islands contribute to food security, livelihoods and culture [9] and [23]. While finfish contribute significantly to food security in coastal communities, invertebrate fisheries such as sea cucumbers provide community-level income streams and contribute to national export revenue. Sea cucumbers are a key resource, contributing to poverty alleviation for probably more than three million fishers globally [24]. They are fished, either for subsistence consumption or export, in every Pacific Island Country (PIC)

[25] and are a vital marine export commodity for numerous countries elsewhere [24], [26] and [27]. Exportation

of the processed product, called beche-de-mer, from Pacific Islands to Asian markets has occurred intermittently for at least 160 years [25]. Sea cucumbers are the third-most economically important marine export from Pacific islands, after tunas and pearls, and are probably worth much more than officially reported [28]. Sea before cucumber production from Fiji, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia, when converted to wet weight equivalents, compare to 19–32% of tuna catches in their exclusive economic zones [29]. Globally, sea cucumber fisheries have often lacked comprehensive management plans and enforcement capacity to deal with intense exploitation rates [24]. Soaring market demand, lack of alternative income streams for fishers and ineffective management have led to recent over-exploitation of resources across the Pacific [25] and [28]. Over-exploitation of wild stocks has prompted national fishery closures in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu within the past 5 years [24]. The closures herald failures in past management systems but, at the same time, give hope to the future as they demonstrate a political will to take drastic measures to protect these resources. A few fisheries in the Pacific Islands have remained as subsistence fisheries (domestic consumption only) (Fig. 1) but have come under recent pressure to open harvests for export.