Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — More than $200,000 in federal funding awarded to the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR) was among the three projects in American Samoa that were awarded funds in fiscal year 2022, by NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Regional Office, according to a 2022 Federal Programs Office Annual Report released recently.

 The report provides a summary of 33 funding awards for projects in Hawai’i, the U.S. Pacific territories and the Pacific Remote Island Areas with a total of about $8.2 million from various federal funding programs.

For DMWR, it was awarded $220,909 for the American Samoa Interjurisdictional Fisheries Stock Assessment and Monitoring Program, under the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986, which assists states in managing interjurisdictional fisheries resources.

(Interjurisdictional Fisheries Stock is a fish species that migrates between the waters under the jurisdiction of two or more political entities — states, countries, or territories.)

Apportionment of funding for the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Stock Assessment and Monitoring Program is based on the average value and volume of raw fish that domestic commercial fishermen land. The data obtained is the principal source of information and analysis for fisheries activities and management options that are used to address federal requirements for fisheries management plans under NOAA Fisheries’ jurisdiction.

Additional funding awards for DMWR came through the NOAA-created Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund, and the report shows that $50,000 each was awarded for two separate projects. The first one, falls under the Marine Conservation Plan (MCP) Coordinator and explains that this “project will hire a 2-year, half-time MCP Coordinator to oversee projects funded through the Sustainable Fisheries Fund in support of the American Samoa MCP.

This Coordinator will report directly to the DMWR director who in turn will prioritize and manage the Coordinator’s workload and determine the day-to-day scope and duties of the position. In addition to administering this grant and related projects, the individual will facilitate updates and revisions deemed necessary for the overarching American Samoa MCP.

The other $50,000 will support one student from American Samoa for two semesters and one summer internship. The selected student will be transitioning from a community college to a 4-year college or university in Hawai‘i or Guam to complete their junior or senior year toward earning a fishery-related bachelor’s degree.

Alternatively, the student will already have a Bachelor of Science degree and be working to complete a master’s degree. The participating student, upon graduation, will be required to work for their local fishery-related agency for 1 year for each year the scholarship was received.

According to the report, the scholarship program provides support for recipient travel-related expenses to attend the university, as well as to participate in the internship and subsequent employment with a fishery management agency. It also provides financial support for tuition, books, and fees; internship compensation; housing/dormitory accommodations; and other related expenses.

“We will continue to work with communities to develop innovative projects that help us provide stewardship of marine life through science-based conservation and management,” PIRO report says of the overall projects getting award funding. “We are excited to see what these awards will accomplish!”

More information on the report and other fisheries issues online (https://fisheries.noaa.gov).