American Samoa

Frank Barron has told a meeting in Pago Pago that the Parties to the Nauru Agreement and the Western and Central Pacific Fishery Commission are taking advantage of the fleet.

He said the entire US fleet is hurting and it needs support from the US government.

Mr Barron said through its vessel-day-scheme the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) can control the area being fished and the cost of admission.

The US National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration has announced a multi-year partnership with Liquid Robotics, a company owned by Boeing.

The NOAA said the robot, called the ocean glider, would conduct long-term environmental monitoring and surveillance of the underwater ecosystems.

It said it would help address critical long-term monitoring and data collection gaps that are not economically feasible with traditional research assets.

Photo: Public Domain

The cannery is shutting down from 21 October for the installation of new equipment and other upgrades, leaving 2,000 people out of work.

The drive is being organised by Tapumanaia Galu Satele and his family, who last year organized a toy drive at Christmas for the children of workers from Samoa Tuna Processors, who lost their jobs when the cannery closed.

Mr Tapumanaia has asked the public to donate nonperishable items.

The same day President Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement, New York, California, and Washington announced the formation of the Alliance.

It aims to uphold United States commitments under the Paris Agreement, and to try and meet or exceed the Clean Power Plan, an Obama-era rule on power plant emissions.

As of last month, the Alliance had 15 members including Puerto Rico and now American Samoa has become a member.

The American Samoa Telecommunications Authority and Hawaii Submarine Cable have signed an amendment to their agreement for the installation of a cable connecting American Samoa to the Hawaiki cable, and the provision of international capacity to the mainland.

The Authority's executive director Puleleiite Liamatua Tufele Jr. says when the Hawaiki cable is launched the bandwidth capacity for American Samoa, currently at 10 gigabytes, will increase to 200 gigabits.

The Hawaiki cable system is expected to be in commercial service in June of next year.

Governor, Lolo Matalasi Moliga said the new single entry form eliminates the burden on travellers who were previously required to complete two or more forms upon arrival.

Lolo said it had been developed to combine all statutory requirements pertaining to Immigration, Customs, Quarantine, Health and Tourism.

He said the departure form had been designed to improve the collection of data on resident travellers, reasons for moving abroad and tourism to improve the visitor industry.

Photo: 123rf

Under a law passed in 2014, any person convicted of a sexual crime against a minor is required to register their name, address and other identifying information.

The US Justice Department's Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART) created the National Sex Offender Public Website.

It also provides a link to website pages of each US State and Territory.

The temporary shutdown is for upgrades and the installation of new equipment which the company says will increase efficiencies at the plant.

Last month Starkist closed for a week due to a shortage of fish.

The company is the largest private employer in the territory with some 2000 workers.

Photo: Supplied

The Director of Agriculture Filifaatali Mike Fuiava has been at a meeting of the Western US Agricultural Trade Association which offered to help American Samoa send produce like taro to the US.

Filifaatali said the plan was to start on a taro planting campaign in January.

He estimated the taro should be ready for harvesting by July next year.

The director hoped to present the department's plans to farmers and lay the ground work in the coming months.

Our correspondent in Pago Pago said it remained unclear when the next vessel would call into the port with more supplies.

In October last year the cannery shut down for just over a week, also because of a shortage of fish.

The US-based StarKist Company said it realised the shutdown was a disruption for workers and the community and it had called for understanding.

StarKist had been trying to secure land for storing frozen fish.

Photo: Supplied