American Samoa Archives - Page 15 of 16

Pacific media commits to stronger reporting of tuna stories

(March 24, 2016) –Journalists from American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have met this week as part of the 4th Pacific Media Summit hosted by the government, media partners and people of Palau.

Their two-day Fisheries Forum Agency (FFA) tunanomics Pacific media initiative regional editors dialogue on ‘Reporting the Future of Fisheries – challenges to 2020’ comes two years after the launch in February 2014 of the FFA tunanomics Pacific media initiative at the 3rd Pacific Media Summit in Noumea, New Caledonia.

The journalists expressed success stories and challenges in covering tuna stories and came up with recommendations that would make fisheries stories more attractive to readers.

One of the recommendations is “to develop and grow their understanding of tunanomics and what the economics of tuna mean to policy and decision makers, not just to news makers”.

In Palau, although offshore fishing contributes less than five percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Palau is taking a different approach by conservation and beefing up its marine surveillance capacities through its new national marine sanctuary.

Read the full story at Loop

San Diego tuna chief addresses Congress

March 1, 2016 — A leader in the San Diego tuna industry addressed U.S. Congress on Tuesday over fishing restrictions on the high seas that he said favor foreign boats.

American Tunaboat Association head Brian Hallman threw his support behind legislation that would potentially give U.S. boats a leg up in treaty negotiations for areas of the world’s largest ocean.

The U.S. fleet, many with ties or based in San Diego, has had a rough year so far, losing access to massive sections of the western and central Pacific Ocean.

Compliance in international waters — for things like how many days boats are allowed to fish for tuna in areas where there is no treaty — is governed by three multinational agreements.

The legislation, called the Ensuring Access to Pacific Fisheries Act, was introduced by congressional delegate Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa) and Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska).

Its basic function would give more people a chance to negotiate for fishing rights instead of just two people from the federal government.

Read the full story at The San Diego Union-Tribune

Feds hear truth about fisheries and American Samoa

February 27, 2016 — Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council executive director Kitty Simonds this week stressed to delegates at the federal Interagency Group on Insular Areas (IGIA) meeting the importance of the fishing industry in American Samoa where two canneries are located and the canneries are the territory’s economic backbone.

Simonds was one of the representatives from federal agencies during Monday’s IGIA three-hour meeting at the White House. She explained that American Samoa is “totally, [and] practically dependent on fisheries” and for 50 years fish processing and canning has been the backbone of American Samoa’s economy.

She noted that one of the recent issues affecting cannery and fisheries in American Samoa is the banning of US purse seiner fleet from fishing on high seas and the US EEZ. She told the IGIA meeting that one of the reasons “why we have these kinds of problems is because of our US negotiators from the US Commerce and US State departments” at some of the international fishery commission meetings (referring to the Western and Central Pacific Fishery Commissions).

“We have tried to work together to ensure that when the negotiators go to these meetings they support US fisheries. And frankly over the last two years, that has been the big problem, in terms of American Samoa’s cannery problems,” she said, adding that she is not dismissing the minimum wage issue impacting the canneries. “I’m talking about policy.”

Read the full story at Samoa News

Feds approve exemption of US longline vessels in American Samoa Large Vessel Prohibited Area

February 1, 2016 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

Federally permitted longline vessels in American Samoa that are over 50 feet in length can fish for pelagic species in certain areas of the American Samoa Large Vessel Prohibited Area or LVPA. The National Marine Fisheries Service announced the final rule, which will publish in the Federal Register on February 3, 2016.

The LVPA, which extends out to 30 to 50 nautical miles from shore around the islands of American Samoa, prohibits vessels greater than 50 feet from fishing within the area. In 2015, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council undertook decision-making to amend the applicable federal LVPA regulations to provide an exemption to large vessels in the American Samoa longline fishery to allow them to fish seaward of 12 nautical miles from shore around the islands of Tutuila, Swains Island and the Manu’a Islands. Fishing around Rose Atoll Marine National Monument remains unchanged

The LVPA was developed by the council and approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service in 2002 to prevent potential gear conflicts between large and small fishing vessels. At that time, approximately 40 alia longline vessels were operating in offshore waters around American Samoa. Originally used to target bottomfish, the alia vessels range from 25 to 40 feet in length and have a catamaran hull.

Since 2002, the alia longline fleet in American Samoa declined to the point where only one alia longline vessel was operating in recent years. In 2014, the council proposed opening the LVPA as a means to assist the larger U.S. longline vessels based in American Samoa. The U.S. fleet was experiencing financial difficulties attributed in part to market competition resulting from an influx of Chinese longline vessels in South Pacific albacore fishery. In making its decision, the council noted that the National Standards of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act require the achievement of optimum yield and the fair and equitable allocation of privileges. The council took final action on the measure in March 2015. The exemption will be reviewed annually by the council to take into consideration any new small vessel fisheries development initiatives, small vessel participation and catch rates.

Council Chair Edwin Ebisui Jr. noted that the measure is important to maintain the supply of U.S. caught albacore from the local longline fleet to the Pago Pago-based canneries in American Samoa. The exemption will improve the viability of the American Samoa longline fishery and achieve optimum yield from the fishery while preventing overfishing.

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council was established by Congress in 1976. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the Council has authority over the fisheries in the Pacific Ocean seaward of the state/territory waters of Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Pacific Remote Island Areas.

Read the release online here

U.S. to pull out of Pacific tuna treaty

January 19, 2016 — The U.S. State Department has announced its intention to pull out of a nearly 30-year treaty that allowed American boats to fish tuna in a vast area of the Pacific Ocean.

Prompted by some U.S. boats saying they could not pay fees to a cluster of Pacific island nations, the 37-boat fleet — many with ties to San Diego — were not issued licenses at the start of 2016.

The department gave formal notice this week to island nations in the South Pacific Tuna Treaty that it planned to pull out of the world’s biggest tuna fishery.

Pressure on the island nations will likely build as Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, plans to introduce legislation in Congress at the end of this week to cut $21 million in foreign aid to 15 of the countries in the treaty.

Brian Hallman, executive director of the San Diego-based American Tunaboat Association, said the treaty has one year to expire and he was hopeful a new deal could be worked out.

“During that year, I believe there will be efforts and negotiations to try to get a restructured treaty,” Hallman said Tuesday, “and we support that.”

He said it was hard to say how many American jobs would be lost because many local fishing captains can transfer to boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean. However, he said the U.S. territory of American Samoa employs thousands who work in canneries and other jobs related to the U.S. fleet.

Read the full story at The San Diego Union-Tribune

Tuna-Fishing Deal Dispute Keeps U.S. Boats Out of Pacific Waters

January 12, 2016 — U.S. boats are set to be locked out of the world’s best tuna-fishing waters after reneging on a deal with 17 Pacific states, amid a slump in prices for the fish sold in cans in supermarkets all over the country.

The standoff means U.S. boats cannot access seas where around half of the world’s skipjack tuna are caught each year. It is also endangering a vital revenue stream for some of the world’s poorest nations.

A group of Pacific island states—which includes small islands and atolls such as Tuvalu, Tokelau and the Marshall Islands—along with New Zealand and Australia are refusing to issue fishing licenses to around 36 U.S. vessels to trawl in their waters after their owners, typically tuna-supply companies or individuals, refused to meet payments agreed in August last year.

“These are the most attractive fisheries in the world and there are boats dying to fish in these waters right now but they can’t go and fish,” said Transform Aqorau, chief executive officer of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, a grouping of eight of the islands which control most of the regions’ best fishing grounds.

Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal

2016 US Pacific Territories Capacity-Building Scholarship Announcement

January 8, 2016 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Managment Council:

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council and its Education Committee members are pleased to announce the availability of three scholarships for academic years 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. These scholarships support the aspiration to build the capacity of American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to effectively manage their fisheries and related resources through the employment of their own people.

The US Pacific Territories Capacity-Building Scholarships may be used for the following:

1. Completion of the junior and senior years to obtain one of the following undergraduate degrees:

i) BA or BS in Marine Science at the University of Hawai`i at Hilo, or

ii) BS in Oceanography with a concentration in Fisheries Science at the Hawaii Pacific University; or

2. Completion of one of the following graduate degrees:

i) MS or PhD in Marine Biology at the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa’s Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB),

ii) MS in Marine Science at Hawaii Pacific University,

iii) MS in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science at the University of Hawai`i at Hilo, or

iv) MS in Biology at the University of Guam.

Eligibility Requirements

Undergraduate Student

1. Be a US citizen or national with strong ties to American Samoa, Guam or the CNMI;

2. Have successfully completed freshman and sophomore years of college with a grade point average of 3.0;

3. Have been accepted to attend the University of Hawai`i at Hilo (BA or BS in Marine Science) or Hawaii Pacific University (BS in Oceanography with a Concentration in Fisheries Science) in Honolulu for the 2015-2016 academic year;

4. Be available for an 8- to 10-week paid internship in Hawaii;

5. Have demonstrated interest and/or previous work/involvement with fisheries, coral reef conservation or related fields;

6. Commit to being employed for a minimum of two years (one year for each scholarship year) with the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, Guam Department of Agriculture or the CNMI Department of Lands and Natural Resources after completion of the undergraduate degree. Those who do not fulfill this commitment will be required to pay back the scholarship amount that has been provided.

Graduate Student

1. Be a US citizen or national with strong ties to American Samoa, Guam or the CNMI;

2. Have been accepted to attend one of the following graduate programs for the 2015-2016 academic year: University of Hawai`i at Mānoa’s MS or PhD in Marine Biology; Hawaii Pacific University’s MS in Marine Science; University of Hawai`i at Hilo’s MS in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science; or University of Guam’s MS in Biology;

3. Have demonstrated interest and/or previous work/involvement with fisheries, coral reef conservation or related fields;

4. Commit to being employed for one year for each scholarship year (maximum two years) with the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, Guam Department of Agriculture or the CNMI Department of Lands and Natural Resources commencing within the year after completion of the graduate degree or departure from the educational program for which the scholarship was provided. Those who do not fulfill this commitment will be required to pay back the scholarship amount that has been provided.

Eligibility Documents

Undergraduate Student

1. Complete the accompanying scholarship application and a two-page essay on your reasons for pursuing your chosen degree. The essay should include a summary of your relevant experience, your long term career goals and your motivations to serve your home islands in the area of sustainable marine resource management.

2. Provide an official college transcript of freshman and sophomore classes completed to date; and

3. Submit two letters of recommendation, one by a college instructor of your choice and one by a community leader who can speak to your overall ability, likelihood of your success in an undergraduate program of study in Hawaii, and commitment to working in a local fisheries related agency for a minimum of two years upon completion of the undergraduate degree.

Graduate Student

2. Provide official undergraduate college transcripts and, if relevant, graduate-level college transcripts;

3. Submit two letters of recommendation from professors, employers and/or community leaders who can speak to your overall ability, likelihood of your success in a graduate program of study in Hawaii, and commitment to working in a local fisheries related agency for a minimum of two years upon completion of the undergraduate degree.

Mail completed application and letters of recommendation to Kitty M. Simonds, Executive Director, Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, 1164 Bishop Street, Suite 1400, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813, by February 29, 2016. Preliminary decisions will be made by March 15, 2016. Final decision is contingent upon 1) an acceptance letter from the University of Hawai`i at Hilo, Hawaii Pacific University or the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa HIMB for the 2016-2017 academic year and 2) the signing of an agreement to work with the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, Guam Department of Agriculture or the CNMI Department of Lands and Natural Resources in fisheries ecosystem related work for one year of for each scholarship year or to provide immediate reimbursement for the scholarship funds that had been provided. Funding for 2017-2018 will be provided based on proof of continued progress in the college program and maintenance of a 3.0 grade point average.

Click here for complete scholarship application packet.

Guam Not Paid Directly For Selling Tuna Quota

HAGÅTÑA, Guam (Pacific Daily News) — Dec. 23, 2015 — Hawaii longline fishermen’s $200,000 payment to use half of Guam’s bigeye tuna catch limit isn’t being paid to Guam directly.

Federal regulations require that payment to be deposited into the Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund, which in turn pays for fishery development projects for Guam, said Sylvia Spalding, communications officer for the Honolulu-based Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council.

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council is one of eight that Congress established in 1976 to have authority over fisheries in their respective jurisdictions. The Western Pacific council includes Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas.

Hawaii has exceeded its catch limit of 3,500 metric tons for this year, so it’s using half of Guam’s quota of 2,000 metric tons of bigeye tuna catch for the remaining month of the year. Without using Guam’s quota, Hawaii would have faced a shortage of fish for sashimi and other popular holiday dishes, according to The Associated Press.

Environmentalists have criticized the process that allows Hawaii bigeye tuna fishermen to use a loophole by using quotas for other jurisdictions like Guam, the Northern Marianas and American Samoa.

David Henkin, an attorney for Earthjustice, said, according to the AP report, that all developed fisheries — like Hawaii’s longline fishery — need to reduce their catch to make sure bigeye is available for future generations.

Read the full story from Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno at the Pacific Daily News

American Samoan group to be part of US delegation to WCPFC fishery conference in Bali

December 2, 2015 — American Samoa is being represented at the 12th Regular Session of the Western and Central Pacific Fishery Commission set for Dec. 3-8 in Bali, Indonesia and they will be part of the US government delegation. American Samoa and the other insular areas are considered US Participating Territories of the WCPFC.

Marine and Wildlife Department director Ruth Matagi-Tofiga told Samoa News last week that as Head of Fishery (HOF) for American Samoa, she is heading the territorial delegation, which includes Taulapapa Willie Sword, DMWR chief fishery biologist Dr. Domingo Ochavillo and Tri Marine International chief operating officer Joe Hamby.

Samoa News should point out that Matagi-Tofiga, Sword and Hamby are members of the American Samoa Fishery Task Force. Sword represents Pacific Energy on the task force, which also includes a representative of StarKist.

Additionally, Matagi-Tofiga and Sword also represent American Samoa on the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, along with Port Administration director Taimalelagi Dr. Claire Poumele, who is also a member of the Fishery Task Force.

Samoa News understands that among the priorities for Matagi-Tofiga at the meeting in Bali is to improve American Samoa’s economy, improve relationships with other Pacific Island Parties (PIPs), and to build an identity for American Samoa that is distinct from the US as far as fishery management and the American Samoa economy are concerned.

Read the full story at Samoa News

StarKist: Fishing Restrictions Hurting American Samoa Cannery

October 26, 2015 — PAGO PAGO, American Samoa – StarKist Co. says fishing restrictions on the high seas and in the US EEZ have further eroded American Samoa’s competitiveness and call on the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to recognize the territory’s unique nature as a small and developing economy.

The statement from the US based company, owned by South Korea based Dongwon industries comes as NMFS officially released last Friday its decision not to approve an emergency rule to exempt U.S. purse seine vessels that deliver at least half of their catch to tuna processing facilities in American Samoa from the closure of the area known as the Effort Limit Area for Purse Seine (ELAPS) — which is fishing on high seas and US EEZ.

Tri Marine International had petitioned the NMFS arguing among other things the reduction of fishing days in waters of Kiribati, traditional fishing grounds for the US purse seine fleet, and that the loss of a reliable supply of tuna from these vessels will jeopardize the ability of the canneries in American Samoa to compete in world markets.

STARKIST RESPONSE

In a statement issued last Friday, StarKist says, “Our cannery has been directly impacted by the closure of access to the high seas and NMFS needs to recognize the unique nature of American Samoa’s small and developing economy.

The company says these “unnecessary restrictions” have driven the purse seine fleet into distant waters where they are now catching fish under a U.S. flag to benefit competitors to American industry.

“As a result, we are forced to buy our fish at a premium with reefer vessels coming in from distant fishing grounds,” it says. “The competitive position of American Samoa continues to be eroded day by day, and the decision by NMFS to forgo an emergency rulemaking for our purse seine fleet is another example of a lack of urgency for how difficult it truly is to operate a business here.”

“American Samoa has had three things in its favor – duty free access to the US market which is now nearly irrelevant, a wage system reflective of the local economy rather than the mainland economy, and a reliable supply of direct-delivered fish,” StarKist said. “All of these factors have been negatively impacted in the last six months.”

Read the full story from the Samoa News at the Pacific Islands Report