French Polynesia administers nearly 1.93 million sq mi (5 million km²) of Pacific Ocean, and the way it manages that maritime territory sets it apart from much of the Pacific region.
The Direction des Ressources Marines oversees fisheries, aquaculture, and pearl farming under a philosophy its director, Moana Maamaatuaiahutapu, summarizes plainly: "Polynesia is first and foremost a sea country." Purse-seine fishing is banned, foreign industrial fleets are excluded, and all 82 locally owned offshore vessels must submit electronic catch data and carry onboard observers.
On the reefs, a traditional practice called Rāhui, temporarily closing fishing zones for regeneration, has been formalized into 26 community-managed areas across the territory. No regulation takes effect without local approval.
Pearl farming, the territory's second-largest export sector and responsible for roughly 49% of goods exports in 2024, produces 9 to 10 million pearls annually, each graded before sale. Meanwhile, Coral Gardeners, a Moorea-based restoration organization founded by Titouan Bernicot, has transplanted thousands of coral fragments onto degraded reefs, doubling fish populations at one site within 13 months.
"If small communities can act responsibly," says Maamaatuaiahutapu, "so can the rest of the world."
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