Traditional subsistence and artisanal fisheries provide sustenance, employment, and income to many Pacific islanders and are of great importance to national economies and food security. The pervasive lack of subsistence fisheries data across the region and the worrying number of accounts of collapsing stocks and species extinctions are of growing concern to authorities involved in managing coastal fishery resources. The author explores new grounds for overcoming two fundamental hurdles for the successful management of subsistence fisheries. It is argued that under a scenario of increasing fishing pressures and changing societies, primary data to found management decisions upon and awareness of the new generation towards the vulnerability of their resources are fundamental. The proposed way of achieving both is through the "Artisanal Fisheries Student Census." Secondary schools integrate an assignment into their science curriculum, within the framework of which students get lectured on coastal resources and fisheries and then record their household's fishing activity over a short period. The collected data flow back to competent authorities who analyze them and make them available for fisheries management. The paper describes in some detail key considerations for the successful implementation of such a program."