American Samoa Tuna Canneries Shutting--Again

[TexasTowelie]

Pago Pago, A.S. – Thursday, Congresswoman Aumua Amata, issued the following statement regarding TriMarine’s announcement to suspend their canning operations in American Samoa:

“The isolated nature of American Samoa continues to place an undue burden on our island’s ability to support stable economic growth. As such, we all understood that the suspension of the TriMarine canning operations was a very distinct possibility, bordering on the inevitable. This does not necessarily mean TriMarine is closing down all operations. Due to a complex series of factors, including a long history of poorly thought out and misguided government policies, we find ourselves at a crossroads. It was my top priority during my first term in congress to begin reversing those policies, and I will continue that mission in the hopes that the island’s remaining cannery can prosper.

American Samoa has a rich history and cultural heritage of strength and perseverance and we will continue to march on. The negative impact of the cannery closing to our economy will be far from negligible however; we’ve weathered worse storms and have come out of it with a better understanding of what it takes to keep moving forward. This situation is a set-back but also an opportunity to look ahead and build something better from the ground up. Resiliency is not about never falling down or never taking damage, but rather fostering and maintaining our strength so that each stumbling block is a little bit easier to come back from. We can pull together and work on diversifying our economy and implementing new ways to grow. We can continue to implement better infrastructure and economic policies so that future hurdles are more like small speed bumps instead of large mountains. Be assured, we will do everything we can to minimize the impact of this closing on our community and keep American Samoa’s economy healthy and growing.”

Congresswoman Amata’s colleagues from the House Natural Resources and House Small Business Committees also had the following to say regarding the cannery closure:

“As a subcommittee vice chairman, Amata has been a strong voice on the Natural Resources Committee in making sure the voices of the people are taken into account in federal decision making. I was distressed to learn one of American Samoa's tuna canneries will close, throwing hundreds of people out of work. I am committed to enacting legislation to reduce the power of the president to unilaterally wall off large sections of the ocean in the name of environmental protection without consultation with Congress and the local people affected."

Read more: http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/18425/Am-Samoa-Tuna-Canneries-Shutting-Again.aspx

[John1956PA]

1. A co-worker of mine was born in American Samoa. We talked about this yesterday.

For years, I have been interested in American Samoa, and I hope to travel there someday. As I understand the history of the cannery, it was once owned by Starkist, which was eventually taken over by Heinz. At one time, there was a statue of Charlie Tuna in front of it. The facility is located about as far a possible (considering the island's small size.) from the capital, Pago Pago. An unpleasing odor is a byproduct of tuna canning operations. Fortunately for tourists to the island, the canning odors did not carry to the hotels and the sight-seeing areas. As with most industries, smaller production facilities are eventually closed and operations moved to larger facilities which function with greater efficiency. To the Samoans, the loss of the tuna canning industry creates a void in their collective sense of heritage.