Governor reiterates support for canneries

PAGO PAGO – American Samoa’s governor said that his opposition to allowing large US longliner vessels to fish in the Large Vessel Protected Area (LVPA) in its EEZ does not mean he is not supportive of the local canneries.

Lolo Matalasi Moliga’s comments followed last Friday’s decision by the US National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS) approving last year’s recommendation by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council to allow large federally permitted US longline vessels to fish in certain areas of the LVPA, which has been reserved since 2002 for the locally alia fleet.

NMFS says approving this action is intended to improve the efficiency and economic viability of the American Samoa longline fleet, while ensuring that fishing by the longline and small vessel fleets remain sustainable on an ongoing basis.

The governor said, in a media statement, that it’s “important to clear the air with regard to the perception that my opposition to the Council’s recommendation reflects my lack of support for the sustainability of our canneries.”

According to the governor, the fundamental issue prompting opposition from local leaders “is one of sovereignty over our native assets – lands and oceans”.

“We ceded our lands so the United States government could establish a political and economic presence in the Pacific,” he said.

“In return, the United States government was to assume the full responsibility of promoting the ‘peace and welfare of our people’, establishing a ‘good and sound government’ and preserving the ‘rights and property’ of our people as articulated in our Deed of Cession,” he said.

But in spite of “vehement opposition” from territorial government leaders, Lolo claimed that NMFS “expressed no sensitivity towards our sovereignty over our native assets”.

He asked: “Can NMFS guarantee that the fish caught within the LVPA of American Samoa will go to our local canneries?”

He added: “Benefits derived from our native assets should accrue exclusively to the people of American Samoa. Ensuring that the canneries exclusively receive these resources is aligned with our expectations and our desires.”

NMFS said its decision to approve the Council’s recommendation is consistent with its authority under the Magnuson-Steven Act to manage fishery resources in the US EEZ.

“NMFS noted that it took particular care to ensure that the views of the territory’s stakeholders – including fishermen and fishing communities – throughout the development of this action.

NMFS said the longline fishery contributed between $7.2 and $13.7 million to the American Samoa economy between 2003 and 2013. The primary source of the fishery’s economic contributions was from sales of fish to the two local canneries.

- Samoa News