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The most comprehensive field guide ever compiled for identifying tropical Pacific fishes, with more than 2500 photographs of 2000 species taken in their natural habitats. Includes Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji f, Samoa, Tonga, French Polynesia and beyong.

Vanuatu is an archipelago of 80 volcanic islands in the Western Pacific ocean with a population of 192,000, the majority of which are Melanesian. Approximately 79% of the population live in the rural areas, and depending on subsistence lifestyle of gardening, fishing and animal keeping. The islands are geologically young with narrow fringing reefs that support a limited marine and fisheries resources. These marine resources are important source of protein and a source of income from local sale of products such as fish, crabs, shellfish and lobsters. Trochus shell (T. niloticus); bech-de mer (Holothurians) and fish are an important source of income for the coastal people. The traditional practice of Customary Marine Tenure (CMT) system constitute the main resources management strategy for the marine resources throughout Vanuatu.

This report presents the result of the marine stock assessment survey conducted in Vanuatu from the period between 1998- 2000 on the status, abundance, distribution and diversity of beche-de-mer, giant clam, rock lobster and Coconut crab (Birgus latro) resources in the Vanuatu archipelago. These marine resources are socially and economically vital not only to the rural coastal people but also nationally. In remote rural areas of the country some of these resources may be the only form of cash crop available providing much needed cash for daily living and most importantly school fees and health fees.

The biological communities at ten sites around the Island of Tutuila. American Samoa were surveyed in October 2002 by a team of four investigators. Diving observations and collections of benthic observations using scuba and snorkel were made at six stations in Pago Pago Harbor, two stations in Fagatele Bay. and one station each in Vatia Bay and Fagasa Bay. The purpose of this survey was to determine the organisms greater than 0.5 mm in size occurring at each site, including benthic algae, macroinvertebrates and fishes, and to evaluate the presence and potential impact of nonindigenous (introduced) marine species. These results were compared with all reports of marine organisms for these areas by previous investigators.