Fishing and marine resources play a central, social, cultural, economic, and subsistence role inthe Pacific islands. Recent recognition of the depleted state of many coral reef and nearshorefisheries resources around the world has brought increased attention to the outcomes andsustainability of local systems of fisheries use and management.In working to protect and manage coastal resources, it is important to understand local patternsof use and traditional systems of marine management. Incorporating local community concerns,practices, and cultural particularities have been shown to be critical to the success and stability ofmarine management systems (White et. al., 2002; Christie, 2004). Evidence documentedthroughout the Pacific has illustrated that traditional fisheries were, and in many cases still are,frequently accompanied by active local management systems designed to foster the sustainableuse of local fish stocks (Johannes, 1978; Cinner and Aswani, 2007). Cinner and Aswani (2007)suggest that efforts to develop management systems should consider hybrid approaches thatintegrate traditional management systems or methods with socioeconomic factors influencingcommunities today.
