French Polynesian President Édouard Fritch recently committed to conserving 1 million square kilometers (386,000 square miles) of the ocean by creating a new large-scale marine protected area and establishing artisanal fishing zones around each of its 118 islands in the South Pacific Ocean.
The waters surrounding the remote islands offer habitats to an abundance of marine life, including 21 species of shark and a reef system that supports 176 coral and 1,024 known fish species. President Fritch’s commitment could benefit offshore fish living within these rich waters as well as the local artisanal fishers.
A French overseas territory in the South Pacific, French Polynesia holds the largest contiguous exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the world. The EEZ was designated as a marine area managed by the local government in 2018, to combine the preservation of the marine environment and the sustainable development of the fishing ground.