The Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council staff will be traveling to American Samoa for a busy week of meetings and workshops.

Beginning on Saturday May 3, the Council will be providing a fresh fish training workshop with local tuna processors and vessel owners and operators. This training will provide hands on training in fresh fish operations, focusing on proper storage with ice and refrigerated seawater.

The Council will be bringing two experts in the field to train attendees. John Kaneko, Program Manager of the Hawaii Seafood Council, and Nelson Aberilla, Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) Manager of the United Fishing Agency, will be conducting the workshop and providing information that will greatly benefit the attendees. This workshop is being hosted at the Samoa Tuna Processors facility in Atu'u.

Also on Saturday May 3, the Council will be holding a public hearing on the draft amendment to the Council's Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan which will modify the Large Vessel Prohibited Area around the islands of American Samoa. This hearing will be convened at Sadie's by the Sea upstairs conference room from 4:00pm to 6:00pm.

On Monday May 5, the Council will be holding its Regional Ecosystem Advisory Committee meeting with local committee members. The meeting will cover local fishery management topics including fishery development programs in the Territory, the modification to the Large Vessel Prohibited Area, and the Marine Conservation Plan for American Samoa. A wide range of local and federal leaders and experts have been invited to this meeting to provide feedback on these and other related topics.

Also on Monday May 5, the Council will be honoring local student winners for the Council sponsored Poster Art Contest for the 2014 Amerika Samoa Lunar Tide Calendar (grades K-12) and the Photo Essay Contest (grades 9-12). The theme of both of these contests was Suiga o le Tau ma Nofoaga Talafa’asolopito: O aiā Tatau ma Matāfaioi (Climate Change and Traditional Places: Rights and Responsibilities). Sixteen students will be recognized for being overall winners in the various categories.

Top student honors go to Gayathri Murali, 8th grade of South Pacific Academy. She won the middle school division for American Samoa and her art will be on display at the First Stewards Symposium and Living Earth Festival at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC this July. Taylor Falealili, a senior at Fagaitua High School won the top overall prize for best artwork submission.

Louisa Faulkner, a senior at South Pacific Academy won the Photo Essay Contest. The Council will be sending her to attend the First Stewards Symposium and Living Earth Festival at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC this summer to present her photo and essay along with other regional winners from Guam, the CNMI, and Hawai’i.

Source: Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council