Fisheries Task Force Reviews Implications of US Withdrawal

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The implications of the withdrawal of the United States from the South Pacific Tuna Treaty, which allowed purse seiners to fish in Pacific island waters, is being reviewed by the American Samoa Fisheries Task Force.

That’s according to the governor’s executive assistant Iulogologo Joseph Pereira, when asked if the administration is taking any measures in response to the announcement that the US has pulled out of the Treaty,

Iulogologo says the Governor’s Office has been made aware of the State Department’s decision to pull out of the agreement and the full impact of what this would do to the local tuna industry is being discussed and reviewed with the Fisheries Task Force.,

He said the administration has received information that some of the fishing vessels which supply fish to the local canneries are not going out fishing because it is not economically and financially feasible.

KHJ News reported last week that several locally based purse seiners have been tied up since the end of last year, as they don’t have licenses to fish in nearby waters that have been their traditional fishing grounds.

Some have left the territory and headed to the eastern Pacific where they are licensed to fish, while others are stuck here because they are not permitted to fish in that area.

Louis Guidi of the Sea Encounter, one of boats that has left for the eastern Pacific area says it’s too far to come all the way to American Samoa to offload their catches.

This cuts off direct fish supplies for the local canneries as well as business for the local economy through purse seiner purchases of fuel, food and other supplies, service at the local shipyard, net repairs, and purchased by boat crews at restaurants, hotels, car rentals and the like.

Iulogologo says the canneries have not shared their plans regarding how they will secure fish supplies to maintain production.

He said reduction in production days at the canneries translates to a shrinking pool of purchasing power available in the economy which affects revenues for the American Samoa Government.

Iulogologo says the government is watching closely how this issue will unfold given its direct impact on the revenues to the ASG as well as available purchasing that the private sector relies on to sustain business operations.

He said while this issue is being worked on, the government is aggressively implementing economic development initiatives aimed at easing the adverse impact on the territory’s economy should the canneries reduce production days due to the shortage of fish stocks.

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