Saving Seafood

Rep from American Samoa calls for opening protected Pacific waters to tuna fishing

March 21, 2025 — U.S. Congresswoman Amata Radewagen, who represents American Samoa, has urged the Trump administration to reopen most of an enormous marine protected area in the Central Pacific Ocean to industrial fishing while also recommending the reopening of other Pacific MPAs.

In a Jan. 23 letter to President Donald Trump, Radewagen called for his administration to open the vast majority of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument (PIH) to commercial tuna fishing. PIH, which is larger than the U.S. state of Texas, is an area of exceptional biodiversity. Radewagen’s letter called reopening it an “immediate need” that would benefit the country’s economy and challenge “Chinese fishing dominance.” She also sent Trump a background document that, among other requests, called for an executive order to open all Pacific marine national monuments and national marine sanctuaries to tuna fishing and to withdraw the U.S. from efforts to develop large marine protected areas in international waters.

Some details of the letter and background document, which Radewagen’s office shared with Mongabay, have not previously been publicly reported.

Members of the PIH Coalition, an advocacy group based in Hawai‘i that includes scientists, fishers and Indigenous leaders, criticized Radewagen’s move.

“I think it’s foolish,” Rick Gaffney, a PIH Coalition member and fisheries expert, told Mongabay.

Gaffney said conservationists have been fighting to ensure a future for fisheries in the Pacific, which is why MPAs like PIH were created: “to be sure that these extremely remote and unique island areas are protected so that they continue to be productive.”

Read the full article at Mongabay

US regulators preparing to implement electronic monitoring on all Western Pacific longline vessels by 2027

March 20, 2025 — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Council (WPRFC) is preparing to implement electronic monitoring on all commercial longline fishing vessels by 2027.

At the March meeting of the WPRFC’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), the Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO) outlined its plan to begin phasing in electronic monitoring to the U.S. longline fleet. According to the office, regulators plan to have all 161 Hawai’i and American Samoan longline vessels outfitted with electronic monitoring systems by 2027.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

American Samoa legislators voice concern over proposal to expand Marine Sanctuary

December 4, 2024 — American Samoa’s Senate President and Speaker of the House wrote in late November on behalf of the Legislature to express to President Joseph R. Biden their concern and opposition to the proposed expansion of the National Marine Sanctuary within the Pacific Remote Islands.

“As you consider potential actions during the concluding months of your administration, we urge you to resist all proposals to create or expand any Marine National Monument within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Western Pacific,” they wrote.

They believe that as ocean ecosystems face increasingly rapid changes, the U.S. fisheries management system — particularly through the oversight of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council — provides a stronger and more enduring framework for sustainable, science-based conservation measures than does the Antiquities Act.

“The Council has effectively managed these natural resources for our region, balancing ecological priorities with the economic needs of the local communities that depend on fishing for survival.”

Read the full story at Samoa News

Territory not included in NOAA’s “Fisheries of the United States” annual report

October 8, 2024 — The director of the Department of Marine & Wildlife Resources, Taotasi Archie Soliai has written to the Deputy Ass’t Administrator for Regulatory Programs of NOAA, Samuel Rauch III on his concerns about American Samoa not being included in NOAA’s “Fisheries of the United States” Annual Report, pointing to “a longstanding pattern of marginalization for our community.”

DMWR director’s concerns comes on the heels of the 200th Meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council held in Honolulu, last month, where an Indigenous Committee to provide recommendations to federal authorities on cultural fishing rights and related issues was established.

Read the full article at Samoa News

Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council calls out foreign tuna dumping

July 1, 2024 — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council expressed concern over foreign tuna dumping in its latest meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, warning that foreign competition is harming both producers and consumers.

“If our fishermen can’t compete, fish, sustain a profit, and provide protein for our communities, not only do we lose food security in American Samoa, but our economy dies,” Council Chair Taulapapa William Sword said.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

American Samoa says restrictions on fishing are crippling the economy

April 15, 2024 — In a letter to the U.S. Office of National Marine Sanctuaries in September, American Samoa’s Gov. Lemanu Mauga wrote that “fishing prohibitions not only weaken U.S. fisheries but also increase seafood imports and jeopardize U.S. food and national security.”

A proposal to expand fishing restrictions in the U.S. Pacific Remote Islands Area, referred to as PRIA, has sparked debate about conservation of Pacific fish populations, as well as an unlikely conversation about competition between the U.S. and China in the region.

Situated in the middle of Hawaii, Guam and American Samoa, PRIA encompasses Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Wake Island, Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef.

Parts of the region’s waters were blocked off from fishing through the establishment of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument by President George W. Bush in 2009, and it was expanded by President Barack Obama in 2014.

A new proposal from President Joe Biden in March 2023 would further expand it to protect 777, 000 square miles of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, known as the EEZ—an area larger than Alaska—essentially blocking it all from fishing and making it the world’s largest marine protected area.

It’s based in part on proposals from environmental advocates in Hawaii, who have pushed for further protections. But officials in American Samoa have charged that the new restrictions would “destroy ” their fishing industry and potentially lead to the closure of the StarKist Samoa cannery. According to the territory’s government, the cannery makes up 85 % of American Samoa’s gross domestic product and is responsible for 99.5 % of its exports.

Read the full article at AOL

Westpac council chair makes plea for Am Samoa in face of proposed PRI sanctuary

October 28, 2023 — Western Pacific Fishery Management Council Chair Taulapapa Will Sword made an impassioned plea for assistance on the proposed Pacific Remote Islands (PRI) national marine sanctuary at a national meeting of the regional fishery management councils.

In a discussion on the process for establishing fishing regulations in national marine sanctuaries during the meeting Oct. 11-13, 2023 in Alexandria, Virginia, Taulapapa exposed the plight of American Samoa in the face of the federal government move proposing a sanctuary in the PRI.

“This administration’s EOs [Executive Orders] on equity and environmental justice goals are rubbish if this sanctuary proposal becomes a reality for there will be no commercial fishing,” said Taulapapa. “Without our cannery, we become useless to this great country; our underserved fishing community suffers, for fishing is our culture!”

Read the full article at Samoa News

U.S. House committee hears testimony on importance of fishing rights to Am Samoa

September 21, 2023 — Uifa’atali Amata took part in a hearing Tuesday in the House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations that examined U.S. waters and the marine sanctuary and monument. The hearing was titled, “Examining Barriers to Access in Federal Waters: A Closer Look at the Marine Sanctuary and Monument System.”

Congresswoman Amata gave remarks and used a visual display of the Pacific waters to defend the need for fishing rights, before asking key questions of the expert witnesses, emphasizing the fact that 51 percent of the two million square mile U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has been designated via presidential proclamation.

“I want to show just how much the Biden Administration is taking from Samoans and other indigenous peoples in the Pacific. By expanding the Pacific Remote Island Marine National Monument, we will lose nearly all U.S. EEZ’s in the Pacific,” Congresswoman Amata warned. “At this critical time, with China increasingly gaining a foothold in the region, the United States will quickly become nothing more than a passive bystander in the world’s largest fishery.”

Read the full article at Samoa News

Lt. Governor wraps up the two-day NOAA PRIA Workshop

September 19, 2023 — At the close of the event Lt Governor Talauega E. V. Ale emphasized the importance of the potential effects of the sanctuary designation for American Samoa, noting that it goes beyond economics and extends to the preservation of the Samoan people as a fishing community.

At the close of the event Lt Governor Talauega E. V. Ale emphasized the importance of the potential effects of the sanctuary designation for American Samoa, noting that it goes beyond economics and extends to the preservation of the Samoan people as a fishing community.

“The importance of the tuna industry in American Samoa and our local cannery cannot be overstated,” Lt. Gov Talauega said. “It is the pillar of our economy, it is the employer of thousands, and it is what feeds our families. Any action that threatens the survival of the fishing industry threatens the survival of our fragile economy,” he is quoted saying in a press release issued by the Governor’s Office.

He also expressed appreciation for the conservation efforts being made in the Pacific and highlighted the value of the natural marine resources of the territory. “I have confidence in finding a solution that would ensure the preservation of oceans without crippling the fishing industry, the economy, and the unique culture of American Samoa.”

Read the full article at Samoa News

Pacific News Minute: American Samoa’s tuna industry pressured by Biden’s plan

July 11, 2023 — A regional fishery council is warning that the Biden administration’s plan to block off U.S. territorial waters in the Pacific would end American Samoa’s tuna canning industry.

Commercial fishing is currently allowed within 50 to 200 miles of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.

It’s made up of Baker, Howland, Jarvis Islands, Johnston, Wake, Palmyra Atolls and Kingman Reef.

However, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s proposal to expand the sanctuary would completely cover the U.S. exclusive economic zone.

Read the full article at Hawaii Public Radio