Historical data gap analysis : final report / by Emily Ralston

Abstract

Bottomfishing from canoes by the natives of the American Samoa islands has been a subsistence traditional practice in the distant past. But it was not until the early 1970s that the bottomfish fishery developed into a commercial venture utilizing motorized boats. A government subsidized program, called the Dory project was initiated in 1972 to develop the offshore fisheries into a commercial venture, and resulted in an abrupt increase in the fishing fleet and total landings. In 1982 a fisheries development project aimed at exporting high-priced deep-water snappers to the Hawaii fish auction caused another notable increase in both bottomfish landings and revenue. Between 1982 and 1988, bottomfish fishery comprised as much as 50% of the total commercial catch. Beginning in 1988 the nature of American Samoa's fisheries changed dramatically with a shift in importance from bottomfish fishing towards trolling. In the past four years, the dominant fishing method has been longlining.