Local Fisheries Panel Wants Clarity on “Indigenous”

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An advisory body of the group that governs fishing in the US Pacific territories, the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, is seeking clarification from the Council  and American Samoa Government on the definition of “indigenous” persons in the Deeds of Cession.

The clarification is in connection with a lawsuit ASG filed in March this year asking the federal court in Honolulu to overturn a ruling made in February by the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) that reduces the Large Vessel Prohibited Area from 50 miles to 12 miles in waters of American Samoa that have been reserved for more than a decade for the local alia fleet.

The ruling allows locally owned longliners to fish in near shore waters which previously were open only to the smaller alia.

The issue came up in discussion at the May 18 meeting of the Council’s American Samoa Advisory Panel, chaired by Christinna Lutu-Sanchez.

A summary of the meeting quotes  Advisory Panel member Brian Thompson saying that the LVPA lawsuit “has created an indigenous issue”.

The chairperson also commented, “if the basis for the government’s lawsuit is that the amendment violates rights guaranteed to indigenous people under… Deeds of Cession, why [is it] that local longline owners aren’t afforded that guaranteed protection?”

According to the summary report, Advisory Panel members suggested that it would be a good idea to get a clarification on the definition of who is an “indigenous” person, and if there is a difference between the federally accepted definition and the local definition.

The Advisory Panel came up with a recommendation that the Council work with the federal government and ASG “to clarify the definition of ‘indigenous’ people as mentioned” in the LVPA lawsuit by American Samoa.

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