Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Day two of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council meeting, hosted by American Samoa this week, allowed members of the public to speak on fishery issues that concern them. And it became apparent that their main concern is with the proposal to establish a new sanctuary in the Pacific Remote Islands (PRI). Their comments yesterday focused on their fears of losing jobs, income and homes, of unpaid loans happening, going out of business, etc. Many were StarKist workers. The public was given 3 minutes on the ‘mike’.

Quite a few of StarKist Samoa workers were on hand carrying placards outside, that spoke of their opposition to the proposal. They did not carry them inside the Gov. H. Rex Lee Auditorium where the council meeting was being held, but the signs were placed against the back wall inside, while workers sat in the public area.

Some of the StarKist workers went to the ‘mike’ to voice their opinions and they were all against the proposed establishment of a Sanctuary in the PRIA.

SOME COMMUNITY VOICES

Tafaoga Tuua, an employee of  Star Kist for 24 years, said there’s not enough fishing vessels supplying the cannery. And if the US government continues with its plans then there won’t be enough fish for them to work on; there’d be an increase in cost, workers would be laid off, and without income, the rental accommodation business will go broke. “So we don’t support the President’s proposed Sanctuary,” she said, “Please allow the American fishing boats to come.”

She also spoke for workers from Samoa, who are here to work and earn a living for not only themselves, but for their families in Samoa. “And we all oppose this plan, as this is the only company that helps us… Every day before we start, we pray to God to save this company for us — StarKist is the only company we get money from.”

Katie Solomona said she’s been working for StarKist for 13 years, and “I don’t accept a US controlled Sanctuary in our Pacific Ocean. We are the backbone of this American Samoa Government. We pay a lot of money to the American Samoa Power Authority. I disagree with plans for a Sanctuary … We depend on this StarKist to raise our families, put our children to school, if there’s no StarKist, there’d be no businesses, and without our jobs that affect the business community, so I absolutely don’t support this sanctuary proposal and I am asking all to stand with us and support StarKist as it’s a blessing for American Samoa.”

Tufuga Faao’i Palepua, from StarKist Management, spoke on behalf of their employees, saying “these are people who would be really affected by this proposed Sanctuary. The fishery operation in American Samoa is vital for our families. And our fish operation accounts for a third of the island's GDP or Gross Domestic Product. Our operation plays a crucial role in American Samoa’s Economy.  For the last 5 years, more than 80 percent of fish supplying StarKist is from the American fishing fleet.”

Palepua concluded, “Unfortunately the proposal to expand the Sanctuary will force the fishermen supplying StarKist to spend more time at sea, at international waters, which means we stop and never return to American Samoa’s cannery.”

Tisa Faamuli a local Environmentalist and a business owner in American Samoa, touched on the “cultural and inconsistency of these federal programs to the disadvantage of indigenous peoples.” She told Samoa News, “I had only three minutes to stress the importance of creating a balance…”

It was on Mar. 24, 2023 that President Biden issued a Presidential Memorandum directing NOAA to consider initiating the sanctuary designation process for the Pacific Remote Islands.

And while NOAA is currently still processing all comments and information received during Public Scoping and its next steps will be to draft Sanctuary Proposal Documents, including the Draft EIS, Draft Management Plan, and Draft proposed regulations and boundaries, on June 23rd, NOAA Initiated 304(a)(5) Process with WPRFMC to draft any necessary fishing regulating for the proposed sanctuary.

It would seem despite local opposition, including a request from Gov. Lemanu P.S. Mauga for an extension of the public scoping process, NOAA is continuing the sanctuary designation process for the PRI.

As Governor Lemanu noted in his opening remarks at Tuesday’s council meeting, there has been “no response” from federal agencies — NOAA or NMFS — to American Samoa’s requests for more meaningful consultations and engagement of the community. Leaving American Samoa with “no say, and no voice”.

OTHER ISSUE

 Another issue was also touched upon yesterday during the second day of the Council meeting — the American Samoa Fishery Ecosystem Plan Bottomfish Management Unit Species Revision Amendment.

The Council’s Data 2000 Workshop in 1996 recommended that its Bottomfish Management Unit Species (BMUS) be refined to better reflect the species that are caught in the fishery.

The BMUS lists for the US territories were most recently revised in 2018 when some BMUS were designated as Ecosystem.

In October 2019, the Council’s Advisory Panel recommended further refining the BMUS in response to the 2019 benchmark stock assessment, which used the BMUS complex to provide a status of the stock. The BMUS complex, which includes both shallow and deep-water species, was recently reassessed in 2022 utilizing new models that take into account additional information and allows for managing the BMUS as separate deep and shallow complexes.

The purpose of this proposed action is to refine the BMUS complex to reflect the current state of the bottomfish fishery in American Samoa, as there is a need to revisit the BMUS to determine whether the current species composition of the complexes remains representative of the fisheries.

This will allow the Council to determine if the BMUS in American Samoa are in need of conservation and management to support the sustainable management of its bottomfish fisheries.

At the195th meeting, the Council will consider taking initial action on the American FEP BMUS Revision Amendment and may select a preliminary preferred alternative.