Big Island Organizations & Programs Losing Funding

[ironyak]

Lol - looks like they got him fixed up on street view, still sporting the beret. Damn hipsters, they're everywhere!
https://maps.app.goo.gl/P6zHHGUFjVK76Tvy5?g_st=ac

[Punatang]

How much easier/faster/better/cheaper would it be for local fishermen to leave from Pohoiki?

100%

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

looks like they got him fixed up on street view

Yup!  That’s my man Charley.  Lookin’ good.
(Thanks for posting ironyak, I’ve got some street view exploring to do - - see what’s changed since I was there)

Added:
$2 Beach is still there!  Named because the family nearby would send someone to collect $2 from you if you swam there.  Now it even has a sign, and despite 40 years of inflation the name hasn’t changed.  Apparently they don’t hold with tradition and consistency though - - they now charge $5.

   

[Punatang]

 Josh Green hasn't touched this with a ten foot fishing pole but Samoa's Governor is super stoked about the benefits for Samoa's people.

https://www.americansamoa.gov/governorpu...nenational

Governor Pula Celebrates President Trump’s Executive Order Amending Pacific Islands Marine National Monument

A Monumental Win for American Samoa’s Tuna Industry on the 125th Anniversary of Cession
Pago Pago, American Samoa — Governor Pulaalii Nikolao Pula today issued a statement of strong support and appreciation following President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order amending the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to allow commercial fishing between 50 and 200 nautical miles.
The decision restores access to historic U.S. fishing grounds in the central Pacific—areas critical to the continued operation of the American Samoa-based U.S.-flagged purse seine fleet and vital to the economic security of the Territory.
“Today is a monumental day for the people of American Samoa,” said Governor Pula. “On the 125th anniversary of the Deed of Cession, when our forefathers chose to join the American family, President Trump has reaffirmed that partnership by honoring his commitment to support American industry and stand with small, remote communities like ours.”
Established in 2009 and later expanded in 2014, the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument placed sweeping restrictions on commercial fishing, effectively blocking American vessels from accessing over a million square miles of federal waters. These closures disproportionately harmed the U.S.-flagged tuna fleet homeported in American Samoa and threatened the Territory’s economic lifeline—its tuna industry, which employs thousands of residents and sustains local families, businesses, and government services.
“President Trump’s Executive Order reopens fishing grounds that our vessels have responsibly used for decades,” Governor Pula continued. “It restores balance and fairness in ocean policy, strengthens food security, and helps keep our cannery operational and competitive in the global market. This is a victory for U.S. fishermen, for American jobs, and for the people of American Samoa.”
Governor Pula expressed his gratitude to President Trump for listening to the concerns of the Territory and taking bold action to correct a policy that was both economically harmful and environmentally unnecessary.  Governor Pula also expressed his gratitude to Congresswoman Uifaatali, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, and all local stakeholders who have long advocated for a more balanced, science-based, and equitable approach to marine policy.
“As we commemorate 125 years under the American flag, this decision reinforces that our voices matter and that our contributions to the nation—especially in food production and national security—are recognized,” said Governor Pula. “We thank President Trump for standing with us, and we look forward to working together to ensure that American Samoa continues to thrive.”

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

its tuna industry, which employs thousands of residents and sustains local families, businesses, and government services.

The factory employs 1600 workers total, 1355 are from the nation of Samoa which is a separate political entity from American Samoa.  They note other workers are from Niue, Tokelau, and Tonga.  So… almost none from American Samoa. 

The cannery continues to hire guest workers from Samoa as it can’t find local employees. Currently, the cannery employs 1,355 guest workers from Samoa.
https://www.samoaobserver.ws/category/samoa/106447

There’s a lot of smoke blowing around this announcement, if you know what to look for.
With all the fish in the sea being caught, will Ellie’s $20 ahi become $15 for the same size bag, which is the supply and demand implication in this non-legislative action?

[MyManao]

 Josh Green hasn't touched this with a ten foot fishing pole but Samoa's Governor is super stoked about the benefits for Samoa's people...

Yeah, those folks down that side got some really strong kava..

Seriously.. the sanctuaries are hatcheries. They are where baby ahi come from. That's what they want.. ahi.. and they swim massive migratory routes.. thousands of miles.. and it's work getting them in the open ocean. But man they command the big bucks. 

The sanctuaries are there to protect the fishing industry's long term viability. They are why we say the ahi industry is in balance.. ie there is not over fishing.  The ahi come around to eat the reef fish, they spawn, and their babies live on the reefs until they mature and get with their migratory lifestyle. And that guy going on about now we gonna have oh boy.. is actually talking about depleting the fish's breeding grounds. Which, of course, will be a short term windfall, cheap fish for all, but it's easy to see in the long term the consequences could be devastating.

[Punatang]

Real innocent people had their job's taken unfairly and without consultation of the local stakeholders.  Chaos Colonialism at it's best.  

https://www.courthousenews.com/american-...ivelihood/

Iosefa Tanuvasa is worried.
Life isn’t easy, but she’s able to provide for her six children through her job at the StarKist Co. tuna cannery in Pago Pago, American Samoa. What worries her is the future of her job and family if the proposed Pacific Remote Islands National Marine Sanctuary restricts tuna fishing in the region, a vital piece of the economy to the U.S. territory.
“For now, we need money to survive and help develop our families, we don’t need a proposal that will lead to closure of our cannery due to higher cost of supplying fish for the cannery,” Tanuvasa wrote to the federal government. “This will heavily impact this nation.”
Tanuvasa is among dozens of American Samoans raising the alarm about the proposed marine sanctuary covering 770,000 square miles in the Pacific Ocean, bigger than the entire state of Alaska.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is entering the second phase of the process to protect the area around seven islands in the Pacific Ocean as a marine sanctuary. The land masses are among the nine claimed by the U.S. with no permanent population: Kingman Reef, Wake, Johnson and Palmyra atolls and Howland, Baker and Jarvis islands. 
In addition to a variety of fish, the area has habitats for sea birds and coral reefs.
“The area has amazing coral resources that are found almost nowhere else in the U.S. territories,” said Brady Phillips, a senior policy specialist of NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.
The waters also are ideal for skipjack tuna, which travel the equator. Tuna fishing supports about 5,000 jobs in American Samoa, a U.S. territory with a population of about 49,000, according to Benar News. The StarKist cannery is among the island’s top employers.
National marine sanctuaries are designated to preserve environmental resources. NOAA can require a permit to alter the seabed, for instance, and place restrictions oil and gas drilling.
Many Samoans have implored the agency to avoid restricting commercial fishing, which they say could raise costs for StarKist and lead it to close the cannery.
President Joe Biden in March directed the Department of Commerce, which includes NOAA, to "consider initiating a sanctuary designation" to expand protection of the Pacific islands, part of the president's announcement creating national monuments in Texas and Nevada. 
However Governor Lemanu Palepoi Sialega Mauga said “not a single representative” of the Biden administration contacted anyone in American Samoa's government before announcing the proposal. He said “without access to these traditional fishing grounds, our tuna industry and entire economy will be annihilated.” 
“American Samoa is repeatedly left out of the conversation of what is best for our communities,” Lemanu wrote to Biden. “We are disappointed that actions that could cripple the economy of a U.S. territory would be taken without the consultation of its people.”
Delegate Aumua Amata Radewagen, the island’s nonvoting member of Congress, implored officials to include exceptions to commercial and subsistence fishing in any final regulations.
“[T]his action seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to placate environmental activists who are hostile to, or at the very least ignorant of, the ways of life of people who actually live in the Pacific,” she wrote.
Tune Vaouli, a resident of American Samoa, wrote a letter to NOAA saying restrictions on fishing would affect “everyone who lives here in Pago Pago.” 
“I do not see the relevance as to why residents that do not reside here on American Samoa feel that this expansion is good for the people of American Samoa. This is [not] and will not be the result of this action if it is approved,” Vaouli wrote. “Not only do we not have the economic power to survive such action, but we will suffer in the long run.”

[ironyak]

HereOnThePrimalEdge - The factory employs 1600 workers total, 1355 are from the nation of Samoa which is a separate political entity from American Samoa. They note other workers are from Niue, Tokelau, and Tonga. So… almost none from American Samoa.

Wait - so they're using immigrant labor to strip mine U.S. natural resources to make a small number of people at a foreign company even richer, all while draping themselves in the stars and stripes for the local yokels? Can't decide if that's the least or most American thing I've heard recently.

MM - The sanctuaries are there to protect the fishing industry's long term viability.
Who has got time for long term thinking - quarterly profit numbers are due and stocks (of fish) are tanking! The extractive mindset of the industry reps at the signing with their "Fish, baby, fish" quips - I guess when the fish are depleted, they can move onto mining the seabed. Hopefully Ellie can pivot to selling manganese nodules on the side of Makuu.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Wait - so they're using immigrant labor to strip mine U.S. natural resources to make a small number of people at a foreign company even richer, all while draping themselves in the stars and stripes for the local yokels? 

Yup.  Was this noted earlier?
The Starkist plant in Samoa is owned by Dongwon Industries, a South Korean company.

[Punatang]

Truly shameful behavior on display.  Don't we need to treat the indigenous people in our territories with the proper respect?

Isn't it hard to stomach the authoritarianism evidenced by the process (or lack thereof) and how it just devastated these poor individuals?

Lua’itaua, who worked at the cannery for 17 years, opined that the proposal poses “a significant threat to our economy and the livelihoods of our citizens.”
“Losing StarKist would not only lead to a decline in employment opportunities but also increase shipping costs, leading to a higher cost of living for our community,” Lua’itaua wrote. “This, in turn, could potentially lead to an economic crisis and a rise in crime rates. StarKist plays a crucial role in shouldering various costs, such as utilities, shipping, transportation, and taxes, which support our infrastructure and contribute to the well-being of our residents.”

https://www.courthousenews.com/american-...ivelihood/