The New Zealand Environment Minister, Amy Adams, says small island states should gain from the stronger emphasis on the state of the world's oceans in the outcome document from the Rio+20 summit in Brazil.
She says the document will commit to further improvement in regional fisheries management, and actions to crack down on illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.
She says it clearly registers the importance of small island developing states and their getting a greater share of the return from their fisheries resources.
The outcome document also endorses the United Nation's process to assess the health of the oceans, and locks in the global goal of having 10 per cent of the world's oceans in marine-protected areas.
Ms Adams says New Zealand is particularly concerned about harmful fisheries subsidies which only add to the worsening state of global fish stocks, distort trade and undermine sustainable development.
She says some governments subsidise new fishing boats when the world already has too many, some subsidise fishing industries that are targeting already over-fished stocks, and others give subsidies to fishing entities linked to illegal fishing.
