The biodiversity of the South Pacific region is of global importance. Changes accompanying economic development have undermined the Pacific’s traditional social systems, including their capacity for resource management, and the environment has suffered as a result. The South Pacific’s social and land/marine tenure systems require local ownership involvements and management. Centralized administration and management systems which began in the colonial period had failed to promote marine resource management. Customary landowners need to be involved from the very beginning in decisions about the future of their resources. Although CMT in the South Pacific may be referred to as systems of “traditional resource management” based on “customary law”, this does not mean that tradition is static, rigid and non-changing. Rather tradition is a system of knowledge and rules which has, on the one hand strong roots in local history and experience, and which is on the other unwritten and uncodified, thereby allowing for flexibility in adapting to changing social, political, economic or ecological circumstances. Thus far from being overwhelmed by commercialization and resource scarcity, many CMT systems in Oceania appear to have considerable capacity for handling and adapting to new circumstances, therefore becoming potentially important tools in the contemporary management of fisheries. The need to establish marine protected areas (MPA) is urgent. Population growth, urbanization and rapid development are causing overharvesting of finite marine resources as well as pollution of the coastal zone. The success of MPA will depend on the customary right holders and their ability to satisfy both their subsistence needs and their aspiration for economic development. This paper proposes the establishment of MPAs in the South Pacific by using a strategy of community based management that has been established in the customary marine tenure system. The use of some traditional conservation method could also be effectively incorporated into MPA systems.