Solutions to world-wide fisheries problems are mostly local or regional.

The benefits of multinational agreements that address global problems, such as climate change, must not be diminished by uncritical acceptance that the action that is necessary to address all widespread problems, such as overfishing, is common, globally. Evidence-based identification of the nature and cause of threats to marine ecosystems is the essential first step in effective ocean management. Action that targets each threat across as much as possible of the area in which it arises, which may be entirely different from where it manifests, is the second. These concepts are not new, however, The High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (HLOP) has given them increased impetus by mandating that its signatories, in addressing priority marine issues, which may vary from country to country and collectively be of global importance, must begin with addressing threats in 100% of national waters. The successful management of the world's biggest tuna resources across 50 million km² of the Central and Western Pacific is put forward as an example of how an initial commitment to a single shared fisheries resource assessment program can provide the foundation for consensus amongst more than 40 countries on the sharing of the benefits of managed access to widespread oceanic resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]