Ads by Google Ads by Google

Alia owners say “No” to longliners fishing in their protected area

Senate President Gaoteote Tofau Palaie has led the call by several senators for local alia  and longliner fishing fleets to work together in finding a solution that works for all parties concerning the proposed federal move to temporarily expand the Large Vessel Prohibited Area (LVPA) around American Samoa waters.

 

The proposal for a one-year temporary exemption which would allow longliners to fish in the LVPA will be taken up at next month’s meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, whose officials were on island last week to get public input and make their presentations to the public as well as the Fono.

 

Data provided by the Council during a Senate committee hearing more than a week ago states that in 2014 there were 19 active longline vessels but “zero” active small vessels, or alias in the same year.

 

Last week a Concurrent Resolution was introduced in the Senate asking the Council to maintain the protected 50 nautical mile zone of the LVPA and objecting to any reduction in the current restricted areas. The Council is proposing a reduction from 50 to 25 nautical miles.

 

Before making a final decision on the measure, Senate Rules Committee chairman Sen. Nuanuaolefeagaiga Saoluaga held a hearing early this week with local alia fishing boat owners as well as two members of the Tautai o Samoa Longline and Fishing Association.

 

Former lawmaker Va’amua Henry Sesepasara, president of the Alia Fishing Association made a presentation on behalf of the alia fishing fleet, saying that there are some 30 alia based in Tutuila, and 19 of them are members of the alia association, some of whose members were in attendance at the hearing.

 

Va’amua says alia boat owners “cannot afford to buy big boats” and are happy with their alia boats, which allow them to fish for a day and then return home, while the large vessels can stay out longer, fishing for up to three weeks before returning to port.

 

Additionally, alia boats return to port with fish which will provide for their families and also provide them with income, he said, adding that his association is opposed to the proposal by the Council.

 

Va’amua also noted that the alia fleet was doing well years ago in their fishing but that declined drastically when the large vessels started operating in the territory more than a decade ago, and this was one of the reasons the LVPA was set up.

 

Another alia boat owner testified that alia boats used to bring in a lot of albacore tuna, but with the larger fleets, things changed for the alia boat owners, who depend on fishing for their livelihood.

 

Capt. Wallace Thompson, who testified on behalf of Swains Islanders, supported the alia boat owners and requested that the current LVPA remain “as is”. He also said that for nearly two years, some 12 longliners have remained docked in the harbor and all these vessels are licensed to fish in American Samoa waters, but only four of the vessels are out fishing.

 

According to the concurrent resolution, the current LVPA zone of 50 nautical miles should not be altered, but should be for the benefit of the exclusive natural resources available to indigenous Samoan fishermen.

 

However, Tautai Association secretary Krista Haleck-Corry, who is an American Samoan, informed the Senate committee that longliners are also owned by indigenous Samoans, and she represents her father (Vince Haleck] who has a company with a fleet of three fishing vessels. Additionally, she has been overseeing the fishing fleet in the last few years.

 

One of her fishing boats was grandfathered into the LVPA fishing zone — allowing it to fish in the protected zone — and this boat has never reported having any incidents or encounters with the local alia, she said.

 

“We’ve never had any problems, any entanglements of fishing lines [with alias]. We have different gear than the alia fishermen, [and] we’re willing to work with the alia fishermen. We’re all Samoan,” she said, adding that fish stock migrates and does not stay in one place.

 

Because the fish stock does not stay in the protected 50 nautical miles LVPN, her boat also must follow the fish as they migrate and “we go where the fish goes,” she said.

 

“Economically, we support the community here. We support the tradesmen here, we support the local stores, so if something happens to us, that’s more economic hardship on other people. We [also] supply the cannery,” she pointed out.

 

Haleck-Corry also noted an interesting issue presented in a report, which says that the canneries here are now having to source fish from China and if the canneries get used to that, what’s going to happen to the locally based fleets?

 

(More than a week ago, the Council informed the Senate that “albacore that might have been caught 300 miles from the Cook Islands EEZ, or on the high seas somewhere, had to be procured from China… frozen… and shipped to the canneries.” See Samoa News edition Feb. 2, 2015 for details).

 

She pointed out that the Chinese fleet does not come here to spend money, and their catch is sent back to China. “So it's important that... we all work together and keep our economy strong here. We need help to survive and we are willing to work with our alias,” she added.

 

The Tautai Association also shared with the committee the reason the LVPA was created, which was not only to prevent any gear conflicts, but also to allow local American Samoans to develop this fishery and get “larger boats”.

 

Tautai Association president Christina Lutu-Sanchez, who along with her husband operates a longline fishing fleet, later told Samoa News that it was pointed out to senators that there have never been any gear conflicts, and “we also have supported this closure for many, many years but the local longline fleet is in a very serious situation and the data shows that this area is not utilized.”

 

“More importantly, one of our goals —  for Samoans to have larger boats — has been met, i.e. most of the ‘active’ longliners in this fishery are Samoan-owned,” she said, noting that they helped create the LVPA closure. “Furthermore, access to this area does not guarantee that the fleet will be saved, but it is an effort to keep the local fleet operating, so it is worth a try.”

 

SENATE REACTIONS

 

Gaoteote, who is one of the three co-sponsors of the concurrent resolution, told the witnesses that senators want to find a consensus between the alia and longliners, because such decision should be made by American Samoa when it comes to its land and ocean resources.

 

He pointed out that longliners are also owned by local Samoans and stressed the importance of both alia and longliner owners working together to find common ground on this issue, as well as provide fish for the canneries.

 

The Senate president says that maybe in the future, the alia fleet owners will be able to afford large boats, but for now, there should be a consensus reached so such a message is included in the concurrent resolution which will be sent to the Council. Gaoteote’s statement was echoed by other senators.

 

Gaoteote reiterated that American Samoans are the ones that should make the final decision when it comes to use of their important resources — the land and water — and not other outside entities.

 

He said the Deed of Cession calls for the federal government to protect these resources, but not to dictate to American Samoa how to use them. “We are asking permission [of the federal government] to use our ocean resources but that’s not what the Deed of Cession states,” he said and insisted that American Samoa should make a decision that is fair and makes all parties happy.

 

Part of the concurrent resolution emphasized that the Deed of Cession ceding the islands to the U.S. government includes the “preservation and protection of the waters surrounding the islands as well as protection of the individual rights of the people. In accordance with said Deeds, the United States pledged to protect and respect the rights of the people.”

 

It's unclear at this point as to whether the Senate will act on the resolution before the Fono recesses for four week’s starting tomorrow. Because it's a concurrent resolution, the non-binding measure also requires House endorsement.