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Local DOC establishes Fisheries Working Group Task Force

A Fisheries Working Group Task Force (FWGTF) has been established within the Commerce Department to discuss a plan of action and recommendations for the governor’s consideration to address a possible tax for transshipment of fish out of American Samoa, according to DOC’s fiscal year 2014 fourth quarter performance report, covering the period of July 1-Sept. 30, 2014.

 

The group was established in late July this year and Commerce director Keniseli Lafaele told Samoa News that the group was given 60 days to come up with a fishery workforce development program. The group is chaired by Alex Zodical and members of the group are from within the DOC.

 

“As our economy is largely fishery-based, I thought it necessary to form a group within the department to focus on issues and developmental initiatives related to our fishery,” Lafaele said responding to Samoa News inquiries on the importance of such a group.

 

“Among issues that have made the headline news lately, is fisheries, and this group is also charged with working collaboratively with the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources in assisting local fishermen develop and grow their fishery businesses,” he said.

 

According to the DOC performance report, the purpose and objective of the FWGTF is to discuss a plan of action and recommendations for the governor’s consideration and to address issues and concerns of an excise tax on transshipment of by-catch and miscellaneous fish out of the territory.

 

This includes addressing the amendment of existing laws pertaining to the transshipment and exporting of miscellaneous fishes, it says.

 

In order to capture the value of transshipment of fish and miscellaneous fish out of the territory, the FWGTF would require good data and relevant reports from various government departments such as DMWR, Treasury’s Customs Division, Port Administration and DOC Statistics division.

 

These agencies, the DOC report says, should work together, coordinate their resources and gather or compile the relevant reports in order to analyze and estimate the accurate value of fish transshipped from the territory, in order to assess the cost-benefit and impact of the proposed measures with regards to an excise tax on transshipment of by-catch and miscellaneous fish.

 

it also says FWGTF would like to capture the data on sales of fish to the reefer boats for transshipment off island. This data will support the FWGTF position on whether to impose an excise tax on transshipment of fish.

 

The report went on to say that the FWGTF would recommend the ASG Treasurer to revisit provisions of the law (ASCA 11.1501) dealing with excise tax on exports; and whether the transshipment of fish or export of fish out of the territory would be applicable to impose an excise tax under this section of the law and/or recommend to the governor to impose an excise tax on transshipment of fish based on the findings of FWGTF on the estimated value of transshipment of fish off-island.

 

DOC stressed that this group is in its infancy and a lot of work is ongoing before any decisions or recommendation will be made to the governor and the ASG Treasurer.

 

Samoa News should point out that the lack of people experienced in the fishery industry on government fishery workforces is one of the biggest complaints from the private sector, i.e. longliner and alia owners.

 

BACKGROUND

 

The ASCA (American Samoa Code Annotated) states in part that during the first ten days of any calendar year — but not thereafter during that year — the Governor may, after prior consultation and discussion with the exporters substantially affected, impose an export duty applicable for all of that calendar year on any article exported from American Samoa and destined for importation into the United States customs area.

 

The amount of such duty may not exceed the amount which would be imposed on like articles imported into the United States from foreign countries generally, it says.

 

Responding to some of the concerns from the longline fishing association, the governor announced in February this year that the government will not impose the excise tax on miscellaneous fish, which are the fish the canneries do not buy from the longliners, which is therefore sold to local stores and restaurants. 

 

During a Senate hearing in January this year on waiving  the excise tax for fish caught in American Samoa’s Exclusive Economic Zone, then ASG Treasurer, the late Dr. Falema’o ‘Phil’ Pili, claimed that there are a lot of miscellaneous fish — catch not sold to the canneries— that could be transshipped onto a “mother ship”, and American Samoa has no control from there, as the catch is taken to a location outside the territory.

 

(The AG’s Office legal opinion last year stated that 10% of the total catch— the miscellaneous fish — caught by longliners but not sold to the canneries is still considered local product, which is exempt from the tax.).