Longline fishery results in American Samoa, 1992-1994
Kinsolving A and Craig P. 1994. Longline fishery results in American Samoa, 1992-1994. Dept. of Marine & Wildlife Resources biological report no. 56. Dept. of Marine & Wildlife Resources. American Samoa Government. Pago Pago, American Samoa
Many tropical islands in the south pacific Ocean are confronted by rapidly growing human populations but have few economic resources that their residents can utilize. Fisheries, from traditional subsistence fishing in times past to today's more modern boat-based fisheries, have always been an important component of island economies (Doulman and Kearney 1991). A review of American Samoa's current fisheries was conducted recently by Craig et al. (1994). They suggest that the least developed fishery is that for pelagic fishes (tuna, marlin, swordfish, etc.) in the offshore waters of the Territory. At first glance, that may seem at odds with the presence of two tuna canneries in American Samoa that annually process about 200,000 short tons of tuna. However, virtually all of these tuna are caught in distant waters far beyond the 200-mile EEZ of American Samoa. The status of pelagic fish stocks within our EEZ is not well known. Previous commercial tuna catches in and near our EEZ have been summarized by Itano et al. (1993). The primary objective of the present project was to collect information needed for informed management of a domestic longline fishery initiating a pilot survey of pelagic resources in American Samoa's EEZ. As part of this project, the departmental vessel was outfitted with longline gear currently used in Hawaii's longline fishery, the vessel's crew received training in using this gear, an ice machine was installed to provide ice, and fishing trials were conducted at varied locations in the EEZ.