VICTORIA, September 24 (IPS) - Like so many problems besetting the world, the existential threats facing small island states are all too obvious. Island nations are surrounded by the sea, and they depend on it for their livelihood and for their security. The sheer power of the sea can never be tamed but islanders he learnt to work with it and in doing so, there has always been a productive balance. But this balance, however, has been cast aside – the relationship has broken down. Our mighty ocean is in poor shape.