This report contains a detailed analysis, both retrospective and prospective, of the Unesco Major Interregional Coastal Marine (COMAR) Project. The report cites achievements during the period 1985-1986 and reviews plans for the various COMAR components for the triennium 1987-1989. Activities under review include: (1) co-operation with ICSU and its various member bodies, such as Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), International Association for Biological Oceanography (IABO) and the new International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) on relevant scientific activities as well as on traditional knowledge and management of coastal systems; (2) regional programmes developed in Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, and the Pacific, the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and Europe; and (3) interregional activities, in particular the comparison of Atlantic and Pacific tropical ecosystems. (Author/TW)