A federal study conducted for the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council found that American Samoa longline fishery “earned scant profits during 2009” and had  “worsened considerably by 2013” as the local fleet put their boats up for sale, citing among other things the low price for albacore and the high price of fuel.

The 34-page assessment study was released this month by the federal Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) and was prepared for the Council, covering several marine and fishery issues for the U.S. Pacific waters, including longline for American Samoa. PFSC is a division of the National Marine Fisheries Service with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

According to the study, participants in the American Samoa longline fishery “have reported extensive operational challenges in recent years,” and the PIFSC Socioeconomics and Planning Group (SPG) has responded to Council requests to examine the problems.

SPG economist Minling Pan recently completed an assessment of trends in fleet-wide net revenue for the period 2006 to 2013 and used a comparison of cost-earnings data for 2001 and 2009 to provide context for understanding the downturn in the fishery in 2013.

Last year, Pan and University of Hawaii colleague Shawn Arita calculated that American Samoa-based longline operators generated an average revenue of $448,817 per vessel during 2009, the report says adding that the average profit margin was a mere $6,379 — a 96% decrease from the early 2000s when PIFSC researchers Joe O’Malley and Samuel Pooley calculated average net returns of over $177,000 per vessel.

“Among the 23 active owner-operators surveyed in 2009, 48% reported net losses,” it says. “When vessel depreciation is considered, the vast majority of participants were operating in the red that year.”

Additionally, rising fuel costs and relatively low catch rates (CPUE) for albacore – the principal target species – are thought to be closely associated with poor fleet-wide economic performance.  (CPUE refers to the Catch Per Unit of fishing Effort.  A measure of efficiency in a fishery, it is the total catch divided by the total amount of effort used to harvest the catch.)

According to the report, low CPUE and rising trip costs continued to challenge the American Samoa longline fleet through 2013 and Pan’s analysis indicates that if CPUE for albacore is lower than 14.3 fish per 1000 hooks, and if the market price for albacore is held at $1.00 per pound (as it was during much of the 2000s), the profit margin for the average vessel will be negative — as was the case for certain owner-operators in 2009.

During 2013, albacore CPUE declined to 11.9 fish per 1000 hooks, resulting in even greater fleet-wide losses than were noted five years earlier, the report says.

It went on to point out that a continuous data collection program used to monitor fleet-wide economic performance since 2006 also indicates persistent economic challenges for the American Samoa fishery.  Further, operating costs have increased substantially since the mid-2000s, reaching their peak in 2013.

“Although a number of owner-operators generated net gains during 2012, the costs of fishing exceeded landings-generated revenue by a significant margin in 2013, and by the end of that year much of the fleet was inactive and 18 owners had posted “For Sale” signs on their vessels,” the report says.

According to the study, during the period 2006 to 2013, net revenue per set fluctuated year-to-year but trended downward, becoming negative in 2013.

“Net revenues during 2011 and 2012 were $244 and $713 per set, respectively — much lower than in 2009 when the figure was $1,307 per set.

CONCLUSION

“SPG’s analysis indicates that participants in the American Samoa longline fishery earned scant profits during 2009 and that the situation had worsened considerably by 2013, with widespread negative returns on fishing effort,” the study pointed out.

“The analysis reveals that lack of profitability is linked in large part to diminishing CPUE and low market prices for albacore. Near-term recovery of the fishery will necessitate increases in catch and prices paid for albacore, and an easing of costs associated with commercial fishing,” it concluded.

BACKGROUND

The study officially confirms what local Tautai-O-Samoa Fishing & Longline Association has been saying all along — the local fleet is in dire need of help if it is to continue to do business. Local longliner vessels were put up for sale at the beginning of this year, citing losses from Chinese state subsidized longliners, rising costs, such as fuel, drop of fish prices, and non-support from the government, both local and federal.

In the meantime, the Association has asked the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council to allow the longliners to access fishing grounds inside the 50-mile zone of American Samoa, while a recent petition signed at the Office of Samoan Affairs asks the Council to not let this happen, citing political status issues.

The latter was the subject of a meeting on Monday, at the Samoan Fale, with Lt. Gov. Lemanu P. Mauga supporting the Council Of Treaty Chiefs of Tutuila, Aunu’u, and Manu’a and the Council of District Governors of American Samoa call to WPRFMC to not allow the ban to be lifted.

In support of the fishing association, Senator Afoa L. Lutu has written to the Council saying, a “group of traditional leaders have chosen to hold this request hostage until the political status of American Samoa is clarified.” He noted the request being considered by the Council “is to provide relief to the American Samoa longline fleet, and it is for a temporary moratorium to allow the fleet to access closer fishing grounds. The amendment does not ban any American Samoan from fishing within the entire EEZ.”

The two issues, according to Sen. Afoa, are “completely separate.”