Uifa’atali and Taotasi voice concerns over proposed fishing rule

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — In separate letters, Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata and ASG’s Marine and Wildlife Resources director, Taotasi Archie director, voiced concerns over the U.S National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposed rule that would “modify” existing limits on fishing by U.S. purse seine vessels in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and on the high seas on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO).

“As a representative of a district which is heavily reliant on fishing, I believe this rule would have a negative impact not only on... American Samoa and our own economic stability, but on the rest of the United States fishing industry,” Uifa’atali wrote in her Oct. 03 comment letter to Sarah Malloy, the Acting Regional Administrator for the NMFS’ Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO) in Honolulu.

Uifa’atali said she is concerned that the NMFS’s proposal “will contribute to the economic distress currently faced by my district due to the ongoing decline of our purse-seine fleet.”

The proposed rule “is unnecessary for compliance with the United States obligations under the WCPFC and hinders the negotiating position of the U.S. [fishing] industry in critical international access,” she points out.

“Furthermore, it is frankly not supported by any scientific reasoning nor does it further any goals of environmental protection or fish stock conservation,” she said.

DMWR director, Taotasi informed Malloy — in a Sept. 28 letter — that the proposed rule “will have negative consequences not only on the US tuna industry, but also on the territories that rely on it for economic sustenance.”

He pointed out that the direct delivery of raw materials to the cannery in American Samoa is an essential building block for the economic viability of the territory’s tuna industry.

And this “fact is widely recognized” by the U.S General Accountability Office as well as various Regional Fishery Management Organizations, he said.

“Approximately 80% of the tuna needed to sustain the cannery is supplied by the US purse seiner fleet. Any threat to that direct delivery system is a threat to the economy and livelihoods of the people of American Samoa,” Taotasi explained.

He recalled the NMFS provision of the  WCPFC Convention, which states that “In giving effect to the duty to cooperate in the establishment of conservation and management measures for highly migratory fish stocks, the Commission shall take into account the special requirements of developing States Parties, in particular small island developing States, and of territories and possessions, in particular: (c) the need to ensure that such measures do not result in transferring, directly or indirectly, a disproportionate burden of conservation action onto developing States Parties, and territories and possessions.”

“Ironically,” said Taotasi, “the proposed rule has the potential to add further direct disproportionate burden to American Samoa, in direct conflict with the WCPFC Convention. We cannot let that happen.”

He explained that currently, more than 50% of the US EEZ in the Western Pacific has been designated as marine monuments and prohibits commercial fishing.

“The US purse seine fleet has very limited US waters in which they can fish commercially thereby forcing them to pay burdensome fees to access EEZ’s of other Pacific Islands,” he said. “Arguably, this may be one of the reasons that the US fleet has reduced from 38 vessels in 2015 to 12 current active vessels.”

According to the DMWR director, the US purse seine fishery is being decimated as vessels are reflagging to other countries that are more supportive and have exemptions granted to them under the Convention.

He declared that, it’s “NOAA’s responsibility to protect the tuna industry and the underserved communities that it supports, not propose rules that will continue to add to its demise.”

Taotasi noted that US fisheries in the Western Pacific Region face an unfair playing field, with strict restrictions on protected species interactions, gear requirements, vessel size limits, fleet size limits, observer and vessel monitoring requirements, etc., that are not required of the fisheries of other nations.

“Understandably, the US sets the standard in conservation efforts as required by the Convention. However, we cannot continue to do so at the expense of the American people,” he said.

Samoa News notes that Taotasi is also one of the American Samoa members on the Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council, for which he is chairman. Last month, the Council during its meeting in Honolulu also discussed this fishery issue. (See Samoa News edition Sept. 27 for details.)

Uifa’atali and Taotasi now join Gov. Lemanu P.S. Mauga who already submitted his concerns to NMFS, which the governor urged to use its “inherent discretion” to grant an exemption to high seas limits for purse seiner vessels based in American Samoa. (See Samoa News edition Sept. 28 for details of the governor’s letter.)

Letters by Uifa’atali and Taotasi were released publicly on Monday by NMFS through federal portal (https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NOAA-NMFS-2022-0082/document) — which also has details of the proposed rules. Public comments were due by Oct. 03, but there was no update as of 6p.m. that day, as to whether the comment period will be extended.

As previously reported by Samoa News, NMFS established under current rules a combined limit on fishing effort by U.S. purse seine vessels in the Effort Limit Area for Purse Seine — or ELAPS, which comprises the areas of the high seas and U.S. EEZ — of 1,828 fishing days  per year for 2020 and subsequent years.

The 1,828 fishing days are managed together — 1270 days in the high seas, and 558 days in the US EEZ, according to federal documents and a local industry official. 

NMFS is now proposing to modify the current rule, to establish separate U.S. EEZ and high seas limits. And that NMFS would implement the limits in this proposed rule to remain effective until they are replaced or amended, according to the NMFS public notice issued on Sept. 12.