FAO Fisheries & Aquaculture
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Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Fisheries and for a world without hunger Aquaculture Department Fishery and Aquaculture Country Profiles The Independent State of Samoa Part I Overview and main indicators 1. Country brief 2. General geographic and economic indicators 3. FAO Fisheries statistics Part II Narrative (2017) 4. Production sector Marine sub-sector Inland sub-sector Aquaculture sub-sector Recreational sub-sector Source of information United Nations Geospatial Information Section http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/english/htmain.htm 5. Post-harvest sector Imagery for continents and oceans reproduced from GEBCO, www.gebco.net Fish utilization Fish markets 6. Socio-economic contribution of the fishery sector Role of fisheries in the national economy Trade Food security Employment Rural development 7. Trends, issues and development Constraints and opportunities Government and non-government sector policies and development strategies Research, education and training Foreign aid 8. Institutional framework 9. Legal framework Regional and international legal framework 10. Annexes 11. References Additional information 12. FAO Thematic data bases 13. Publications 14. Meetings & News archive FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department Part I Overview and main indicators Part I of the Fishery and Aquaculture Country Profile is compiled using the most up-to-date information available from the FAO Country briefs and Statistics programmes at the time of publication. The Country Brief and the FAO Fisheries Statistics provided in Part I may, however, have been prepared at different times, which would explain any inconsistencies. Country brief Prepared: May, 2018 Samoa has a population of 195 000 (2016), a land area of 2 935 km2, a coastline of 447 km, and an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 129 000 km2. Fisheries’ contribution to GDP in 2014 was 3.5 percent of national GDP. In 2015, exports of fish and fishery products were valued at USD 13.4 million and imports at USD 8.6 million. Fish and fishing is important to Samoa, both economically and socially. Over 30 percent of all exports of the country consisted of fishery products. About a quarter of all households received some income from fishing. Total fisheries production was estimated at about 8 700 tonnes in 2015, the bulk of which came from capture fisheries. The production from freshwater aquaculture ponds amounted to 13 tonnes of Nile tilapia. Per capita consumption of fish and fisheries products amounted to 48.5 kg/year in 2013, accounting for about 24 percent of animal protein. In 2015, 21 long liners, most under 12 meters LOA were reported along with 53 bottom / trolling vessels under 12 meters LOA. In 2015, 18 women and 68 men were reported as full-time aquaculture employees. During the same period 440 men were reported to work in deep-sea fisheries. In total, an estimate of over 10 000 people has been made for engagement in subsistence fisheries. Offshore fisheries consist almost exclusively of tuna longlining, from small Alia catamarans and from much larger mono-hull vessels. Coastal fishing is undertaken by villagers operating in shallow lagoon waters adjacent to their lands, and is for both subsistence and commercial purposes. Aquaculture is not a traditional practice in Samoa, except for a traditional form of giant clam ranching that was practiced on village reefs or in lagoons where a community placed giant clams in a fenced off area for a special occasion or reserves for seafood supply in bad weather. Significant aquaculture activities did not occur until the 1980s when several trials pertaining to farming tilapia, freshwater and marine prawns, oyster, eucheuma seaweed, green mussels and giant clams were investigated. As the village giant clam nurseries are oriented to enhancing the wild stock, aquaculture harvesting is limited to tilapia. Aquaculture production in recent years was only 4 to 5 tonnes of Nile tilapia. Samoa is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the UN Fish Stocks Agreement and the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and central Pacific Ocean. Samoa is also a party of several treaties and agreement. Membership in Regional Fishery Bodies Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department General geographic and economic indicators Table 1 - General Geographic and Economic Data - Independent State of Samoa Source Sea Around US: Shelf area: 2 234 km² www.seaaroundus.org/ Length of continental coastline: 403 km World by Map Fisheries GDP (2014): 3.5% National GDP Gillet, 20161 (1) Gillett, R. D. Fisheries in the Economies of Pacific Island Countries and Territories. Pacific Community (SPC), 2016 *Value converted by FAO as per UN currency exchange rate Source Country area 2 840 km2 FAOSTAT. 2013 Land area 2 830 km2 FAOSTAT. 2013 Inland water area 10 km2 Computed. 2013 Population - Est. & Proj. 0.19 millions FAOSTAT. 2018 Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) area 130 973 km2 VLIZ GDP (current US$) 820 millions World Bank. 2018 GDP per capita (current US$) 4 183 US$ World Bank. 2018 Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 9.8 % of GDP World Bank. 2018 FAO Fisheries statistics Table 2 in this section is based on statistics prepared by the FAO Fishery Information, Data and Statistics Unit and disseminated in YYYY. The charts are based on the same source but these are automatically updated every year with the most recent statistics. Table 2 — FAO fisheries statistics - Independent State of Samoa 1980 1990 2000 2010 2014 2015 2016 EMPLOYMENT (thousands) 7.86 6.03 12.5 … 0.328 0.525 Aquaculture … … … … 0.081 0.085 … FA7O .F8is6heries an6d .A0qu3aculture1 D2ep.a5rtment … 0.247 0.44 … Capture 7.86 6.03 12.5 … 0.247 0.44 … Inland … … … … … … … Marine 7.86 6.03 12.5 … 0.247 0.44 … FLEET(thousands vessels) … … … … … 0.075 … Source: FAO Fishery and Aquaculture Statistics 1) Due to roundings total may not sum up Please Note:Fishery statistical data here presented exclude the production for marine mammals, crocodiles, corals, sponges, pearls, mother-of-pearl and aquatic plants. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department Part II Narrative Updated 2017 Part II of the Fishery and Aquaculture Country Profile provides supplementary information that is based on national and other sources and that is valid at the time of compilation (see update year above). References to these sources are provided as far as possible. Production sector Samoa consists of two main islands, Upolu and Savaii, and two inhabited but much smaller islands, Manono and Apolima. In addition, there are several uninhabited, little islands and large rocks. Because the islands of Samoa are relatively new in a geological sense, the lagoons are fairly small and consequently the inshore fishing areas are limited compared to those of many other Pacific Island countries. Fish and fishing are important to Samoa, both economically and socially. Fish (fresh, frozen and canned) is an important feature of the Samoan diet and, on average, households consume fish most days of the week. Fish is also one of Samoa’s most important exports. Both subsistence and commercial fishing are significant occupations in Samoa. Fisheries statistics can be presented in different forms, to cater for different purposes. In the Samoa statistics published by FAO (Part 1 of this profile) the presentation follows the international conventions and standards used by FAO and its Member States for reporting catches, which are given by the flag of the catching vessel. Accordingly, the fishery and aquaculture production of Samoa in 2014 published by FAO (Part 1) was 7 506 tonnes. In Table 3 below, the Samoa fishery production statistics include the catch by Samoa-flagged vessels, the catch by small boats operated by Samoan nationals and the catch from fishing activities that do not involve a vessel (e.g. reef gleaning). The offshore category in the table is defined as the catch from Samoa-flagged, industrial- scale fishing operations that are carried out anywhere in the western and central Pacific Ocean (i.e. inside or outside Samoa waters). Table 3: Samoa fisheries production in 2014 (as per FAO reporting standards) Coastal Coastal Samoa-flagged Aquaculture Freshwater commercial subsistence offshore Volume 12 10 5 000 5 000 1 254 (tonnes) Value 15 054 3 226 17 782 427 12 447 699 4 666 309 (USD) The amounts of production given in the above table differ from those shown in Part 1. The table consists of FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department production estimated from a variety of sources (see SPC study below), whereas the quantities reported in Part 1 are generally what is reported to FAO by the Samoa Fisheries Division. The major difference appears to be in the estimates of commercial/subsistence coastal fisheries production. A recent study by the Pacific Community (SPC) presents the fishery statistics of Samoa in a different way from that of FAO. The SPC study reports the amount of catch in Samoa fishery waters, regardless of vessel flag. In the study, the catches are placed in different categories, which is useful for other purposes. A summary of the fishery production from the SPC study is given in Table 4 below. The catches reported in Tables 3 and 4 are identical due to the lack of fishing by foreign-flagged vessels in Samoa waters in 2014. In 2015, however, there was a significant amount of fishing in Samoa waters by foreign-flagged vessels (Fisheries Division, 2016). Table 4: Fisheries production in Samoa waters Offshore Coastal Coastal Offshore 2014 Aquaculture Freshwater locally commercial subsistence foreign-based based Both Samoa- and foreign-flagged vessels Volume 12 10 5 000 5 000 1 254 0 (tonnes) Value (USD) 15 054 3 226 17 782 427 12 447 699 4 666 309 0 Source: Gillett (2016) Some comment is required to explain the difference between the information in this table and that in Part 1 of this profile.