In her opening statement at the 11th Regular Session of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in Apia, Samoa, Dept. of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR) Director Dr. Ruth Matagi-Tofiga told the participants that American Samoa has substantial interest in the conservation and management of highly migratory fish stocks in the Western and Central Pacific — especially in relationship to the fisheries industry that employs “nearly half our Territory’s workforce”.

“Pago Pago Harbor is the homeport of a domestic albacore longline fishery that fishes primarily in the American Samoa Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the homeport for US purse seiner vessels fishing in the region,” she explained. “Pago Pago is also the home of two of the largest cannery facilities in the Pacific, employing nearly half of our Territory’s workforce.”

The 11th Regular Session of the WCPFC kicked off Monday, December 1 (Samoa time) at the Faleata Sports Complex in Apia, Samoa and will conclude Friday, December 5 (Samoa time).

Over a telephone interview with Samoa News yesterday, Matagi-Tofiga highlighted some of the remarks she made during opening day.

She said she told the participants that "Like many other Pacific Islands countries, American Samoa’s economy is dependent on tuna fishing and processing. Nations of the Pacific islands have long endured an intimate relationship with the sea. For as long as our ancestors have lived on these lands, the people of the South Pacific have survived on the abundance of life carried by the ocean currents. As modern technology has brought with it advances in fishing, and commercial exploitation, the ocean has suffered. Still to this day, millions depend on the ocean for the food they eat every night and the means by which they survive."

Matagi-Tofiga continued, "Also like our Pacific Island brothers and sisters, American Samoa shares similar development aspirations and notes the importance of recognizing the special requirements of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Territories within Commission decisions."

She said, "We view the most important issues for Commission decision making at this meeting to include the following:

Continuation of the Compliance Monitoring Scheme;

Adopting a comprehensive South Pacific albacore measure;

Eliminating loopholes for the non-provision of operational data; and

Establishing a fair and objective process to define and measure disproportionate conservation burden on SIDs and participating territories. 

American Samoa looks forward to working with other Commission members on these issues during this meeting," she concluded.

BACKGROUND

According to https://www.wcpfc.int/ "The WCPFC was established by the Convention for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPF Convention) which entered into force on 19 June 2004. The WCPF Convention draws on many of the provisions of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement [UNFSA] while, at the same time, reflecting the special political, socio-economic, geographical and environmental characteristics of the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) region.

The WCPFC Convention seeks to address problems in the management of high seas fisheries resulting from unregulated fishing, over-capitalization, excessive fleet capacity, vessel re-flagging to escape controls, insufficiently selective gear, unreliable databases and insufficient multilateral cooperation in respect to conservation and management of highly migratory fish stocks."

Commission membership includes Australia, China, Canada, Cook Islands, European Union, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, France, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Chinese Taipei, Tonga, Tuvalu, United States of America, and Vanuatu.

Participating territories include American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia, Tokelau, and Wallis and Futuna, while cooperating non-members are: Belize, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Thailand, and Vietnam.