Saving Seafood

U.S. Tuna Treaty Brings No Special Benefits For American Samoa Industry

December 7, 2016 — PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — While the new six-year South Pacific Tuna Treaty does not appear to provide any special recognition or benefits to the American Samoa’s tuna industry, Commerce Department Director Keniseli Lafaele says the Treaty is a way forward and the territory hopes to find opportunities under the Treaty that will benefit American Samoa.

Lafaele is also hopeful that the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump will concentrate more on finding ways for the locally based US flag boats to compete in the global tuna industry.

Signed Dec. 3 (Saturday) during a ceremony in Nadi, Fiji, the new Treaty is valid through 2022 and is between the US and 16 Pacific Island countries. It allows the US purse seiner fleet to fish in waters of these Pacific countries. The Treaty was approved in “principle” during another round of negotiations held in Auckland, New Zealand in June this year.

Signing of the new Treaty came two days before the start Monday in Fiji of the week-long Western and Central Pacific Fishery Committee meeting in Nadi, for which American Samoa has a delegation that is part of the U.S. delegation.

Leading the local delegation is Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources director Dr. Ruth Matagi-Tofiga, who told Samoa News that signing of the new Treaty “is indeed an exciting occasion, being that it took 7 years to sign the Treaty with amendments.”

And the Treaty is “important for American Samoa because it sets operational terms and conditions for the U.S. tuna purse seine fleet to fish in waters under the jurisdiction of the Pacific Island Parties, which cover a wide swath of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean,” Matagi-Tofiga said via email from Nadi, over the weekend responding to Samoa News inquiries.

She points out that the U.S. purse seine fleet “operates under the highest commercial standard and subject to strict U.S. enforcement authorities… that curtails illegal and unregulated fishing.”

Read the full story at the Pacific Islands Report

U.S. Fishing Fleet Prepares To Fight For Fishing Rights In Pacific

November 30, 2016 — PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — San Diego-based American Tunaboat Association (ATA) is calling for, among other things, a “level playing field” and the protection of US fishing rights on the high seas at the 13th meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fishery Commission from Dec. 5- 9 Nadi, Fiji.

Tri Marine International, which has a fishing fleet based in Pago Pago, as well as American Samoa officials have called for more fishing days on the high seas for the US fleet, as fishing restrictions have impacted fish delivery to the two canneries in American Samoa.

Responding to Samoa News questions, ATA Executive Director Brian Hallman says he as well as eight to ten ATA members will be attending the WCPFC meeting.

Asked to name some of the important issues he plans to argue for ATA, Hallman says, “Our main approach will be to ensure that all management proposals are science based.”  He went on to explain that in the past that has not always been the case; and rules should be applied equally and enforced equally for all fishing fleets, so that there is a level playing field for US vessels.

Read the full story at the Pacific Islands Report

American Samoa Attorney: Feds Continue To Ignore Local Concerns About Fisheries

November 4, 2016 — PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — Local attorney Marie Alailima says the federal agencies involved in fisheries “continue to ignore” the call from local traditional chiefs, government leaders and residents of American Samoa for meaningful discussions in issues impacting the territory’s resources.

Alailima made the observation in her Oct. 27 comment letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration opposing the way NOAA’s National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS) sought public comments, with only one local public hearing held on a proposed regulation for aquaculture program in American Samoa.

She joins Commerce Department director Keniseli Lafaele and Shipyard Service Authority chief executive Moefa’auo Bill Emmesly — both have lodged strong objections in the way NMFS sought public comments and have called for a delay in making any final decision on the NMFS proposal.

In her letter, released yesterday through the federal portal [www.regulations.gov], the local attorney says “no further action” should be taken on NMFS and Western Pacific Fishery Management Council’s intent to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to analyze the potential environmental impact of a proposed Pacific Islands Region (PIR) aquaculture management program and alternatives.

The PEIS is intended to support offshore aquaculture development, including appropriate management unit species for aquaculture, reasonably foreseeable types of offshore aquaculture operations, and permitting and reporting requirements for persons conducting aquaculture activities in Federal waters.

She cited various reasons, why no action should be taken and included the fact that notice of Sept. 8’s public meeting in American Samoa was made electronically, but such medium of notification, including in the case at hand — the sending of notice by electronic emails to a “select few” — “erroneously presumes notice through email, the federal register online, through announcement of public hearings on NOAA agency websites is a means readily accessible by the majority of the American Samoa population.”

Alailima argues, “It also erroneously presumes that the subject matter or import of such public meetings can be readily understood from such online notice by a population [that] for the most part lacks access to computers and is still transitioning into fully embracing American culture, its language, its federal procedures, legal institutions and concepts.”

Greater responsibility for providing the American Samoa population with meaningful notice and opportunity to comment must be considered by NMFS and other NOAA agencies, inclusive of all further steps involving the present proposed action, she said.

Read the full story at the Pacific Islands Report

Processing Company: US Must Support American Samoa Tuna Industry

October 19, 2016 — PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — Tri Marine International chief operations officer Joe Hamby has brought up with the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council several issues concerning the tuna industry in American Samoa, pointing to the industry as the backbone of the territory’s economy and support must happen that “can be measured in economic terms.”

A letter discussing the issues by Hamby, who is also the acting chief executive officer of Tri Marine-owned Samoa Tuna Processors cannery, was distributed to members of the Council during it’s 168th meeting in Honolulu last week.

Tri Marine announced last week that canning operations at STP would be suspended indefinitely effective Dec. 11.

In his Oct. 14 letter to the Council, Hamby recalled that the local tuna industry consists of two large scale canneries, a number of purse seiners, longliners and alias. He noted purse seiners are mostly US flagged, while the longliners are foreign flagged, except for the locally based US flagged fleet.

“I understand that there are no alias currently targeting tuna,” he said. “The alias therefore represent potential participants in the American Samoa tuna industry.”

The local tuna industry also includes service providers like ship handlers, maintenance and repair companies, stevedores, net repair yards, a shipyard, transportation, agents, hotels, restaurants, etc.

“The tuna industry is the backbone of the American Samoa economy,” he declared and said the tuna canneries depend on the US market as tuna products from American Samoa are exempt from duty in the US.

“Without this duty exemption, the canneries are not competitive with lower cost sources of canned tuna. Free trade agreements, like TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership), are a serious threat to the American Samoa tuna industry,” Hamby said.

Read the full story at the Pacific Islands Report

American Samoa Cannery To Scale Back Operations Due To Fish Shortages

September 29, 2016 — PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — As a result of fish-supply shortages, StarKist Co. has confirmed that its StarKist Samoa operation in American Samoa will shut down for one week next month.

Samoa News learned Monday from some StarKist Samoa cannery workers of the shutdown starting Oct. 10 — right after the White Sunday holiday — but they weren’t sure as to the reason for it. The workers were a little pleased with the one week shutdown because it follows a holiday on Monday and they could spend a longer period of time with families in Samoa for White Sunday.

However, other workers say the weeklong shutdown will impact their paychecks. Additionally, any shut down of the cannery for a longer period of time will also have a financial impact on private aiga buses, which provide charter bus transportation for StarKist workers.

Responding to Samoa News’ request for comments on the shutdown, StarKist Co., spokesperson Michelle Faist provided a company statement, which confirmed the shutdown during the week of October 10 and the shutdown is due to “fish-supply shortages”.

This is the second time in the past twelve months the StarKist Samoa plant has temporarily shut down manufacturing due to fish-supply issues facing the facility, according to the statement.

Read the full story at the Pacific Islands Report

NOAA Training Aims To Stop Illegal Fishing within U.S. territories and International Waters

August 24, 2016 — In June the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) entered into force globally, marking a major milestone in the effort to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. To maximize the effectiveness of the PSMA, broad implementation is critical and international capacity building has become of the utmost importance. NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) stepped up to ensure domestic implementation of the operational provisions went forward as quickly as possible. The Office of Law Enforcement has also begun the important task of working with international partners on training and implementation as well.

NOAA has responsibility for enforcing marine resource laws of the United States and is the lead agency for enforcement of the PSMA. The Office of Law Enforcement was also tasked with providing technical assistance to other countries for the PSMA, under the President’s Task Force. So, they went to work on an implementation plan, as well as creating training modules for state, territorial, and international partners. Before the training was initiated in the U.S. territories, there was a three-day conference with staff from OLE headquarters, national training team and Pacific Island Division. In this meeting, national level training materials were refined and tailored to the specific needs of the Pacific Island Region as well as reviewed to ensure the modules were comprehensive, but as simple as possible.

“We wanted to make sure that the training material is easy to understand, yet covers all areas necessary to meet PSMA requirements,” said Deputy Special Agent in Charge Martina Sagapolu of OLE-PID. “We knew the implementation of PSMA will directly impact American Samoa because this is the main U.S. port where the foreign fleet delivers its catch daily. The (Pago Pago) port sees all sizes of FFV and the inspection process under PSMA is arduous. Ensuring the training material was simple yet straightforward is critical for our partners.”

After the conference, training commenced — first with American Samoa, then Guam.

“The training was extremely beneficial to all involved,” said Special Agent Todd Dubois, Assistant Director of Operations for the Office of Law Enforcement. “The American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources officers that participated in the workshop were very receptive to the implementation training. There were numerous discussions that highlighted the importance of information sharing, collaborative enforcement efforts and thorough vessel inspections to further promote PSMA compliance and combat IUU fishing.”

Read the full story at the U.S. State Department

American Samoa Key To Combatting ‘Illegal, Unreported, And Unregulated’ Fishing

August 18, 2016 — PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — With the United States a signatory to an international agreement to combat IUU — illegal, unreported, and unregulated — fishing, American Samoa, home to two canneries and many fishing vessels, is now part of the agreement, which went into force on June 5 this year.

According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Port State Measures Agreement does not solely focus on IUU fishing vessels, but also requires action against vessels that engage in supportive activities such as refueling or transshipping fish from IUU fishing vessels at sea.

Adopted in 2009 by the UN Fish and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Agreement identifies measures to block the entry from ports of IUU-caught fish into national and international markets.

For the US, the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement (NOAA-OLE) is charged with enforcing the Agreement, which according to the federal agency, applies to foreign flagged fishing vessels carrying fish that have not been previously landed in a port.

Under other U.S. law (Nicholson Act), foreign flagged vessels cannot land these fish/fish products in U.S. ports, with the exception of ports within U.S. territories. Because of this, the most significant impact will be seen in the US territories of American Samoa and Guam.

“The… Agreement is the most significant legislation passed in nearly 40 years and American Samoa is at the center of this effort,” NOAA-OLE special agent Murray Bauer told Samoa News yesterday.

Read the full story at the Pacific Islands Report

Proposal For Observers Could Further Hurt U.S. Purse Seiner Fleet

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — May 3, 2016 — A new fishery rule that the federal government is moving to implement is expected to deal another financial blow to the US purse seiner fleet, which is already faced with stiff competition from foreign vessels such as the Chinese fleet, who are subsidized by their government, China.

US National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS) has proposed a rule which would require Observers to be on board US purse seiners fishing in the western and central Pacific ocean (WCPO).

The proposal was issued last week under authority of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention Implementation Act. It is a three-pronged proposed rule, which includes a move to establish restrictions in 2016 and 2017 on the use of fish aggregating devices (FADs) by U.S. purse seine vessels in the WCPO; and to establish limits in 2016 and 2017 on the amount of bigeye tuna that may be captured by U.S. longline vessels in the WCPO.

According to NMFS, this longline vessel big eye tuna proposal would not apply to American Samoa and the other two US Pacific territories, as they have their own federal programs.

NMFS says the proposed action is necessary to satisfy the obligations of the United States under the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (Convention), to which it is a Contracting Party.

NMFS is now seeking public comments on the three-pronged proposed rule-making, and deadline for comment submission is May 12. Details are available online on federal portal: www.regulations.gov.

Read the full story at the Pacific Islands Report

U.S. Tuna Industry Objects To New Proposed Labeling

April 29, 2016 — PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — Tri Marine International, whose local operations include a tuna cannery, and National Fisheries Institute (NFI) both contend that the new interim final rule by the federal government on dolphin safety labeling is due to a recent sanction of the US by the World Trade Organization in a long standing case which pits the US against its neighbor, Mexico. They say it is an unfair and unproductive burden to U.S. seafood companies that does not resolve the protracted WTO litigation, nor improve on the existing dolphin-safe operational performance.

Industry officials told Samoa News that the new interim final rule (or IFR) will only increase operational costs for the US tuna canneries, who are already faced with stiff global competition, and that the US canneries have been adhering to dolphin safe labeling standards set by the federal government for many years.

This was echoed by NFI president, John P. Connelly in an Apr. 22 letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), who is seeking public comment on the IFR for “enhanced document requirements and captain training requirements to support use of the dolphin safe label on tuna products.”

“Consumers purchasing canned and pouched tuna from Bumble Bee Foods, Chicken of the Sea, and StarKist should be confident that the ‘dolphin-safe’ label the retail packaging bears means just that,” Connelly wrote.

The three canneries are the major US producers of tuna products.

Read the full story at the Pacific Islands Report

Am. Samoa Cannery Opposes Reducing Tuna Data Collection

April 7, 2016 — PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — Tri Marine International, operator of Samoa Tuna Processors cannery in American Samoa, has called on the federal government for more “rigorous data” collection of imported frozen tuna loins, which are from fish typically caught in distant waters and off loaded into foreign ports.

The Bellevue, Washington-based company’s call was in response to the US National Marine Fishery Service seeking public comments on proposed rule-making dealing with a number of issues on trade monitoring procedures for fishery products, and permit requirements for importers and exporters. The comment period has already closed.

Among the proposed changes in the rule-making are reduced data sets pertaining to importation of frozen cooked tuna loins used in cannery operations and tuna products in airtight containers (or tuna cans) manufactured in American Samoa and imported into the United States or Puerto Rico.

According to NMFS, the reduced data set is, among other things, intended to prevent duplicative reporting for the companies that import the tuna products and that already submit required information to the Tuna Tracking and Verification Program (TTVP) via monthly reports.

Read the full story at the Pacific Islands Report