American Samoa Coastal Management Program

Ocean Resource Management Program

 The Ocean Resource Management Program is a newly formed program within ASCMP established in recognition of the ocean resources that are valuable to the Territory. Several key activities are proposed for this program. As it exists, all ocean resource management in the Territory is done by various government agencies with little or no integration of policies and/or guidelines. To be completed with FY ’02 funding, an Ocean Resource Management Plan (ORMP) will address the need for integration of ocean resource concerns such as:

• Over fishing
• Coastal Water Quality
• Oil Spills & Ocean Pollution
• Tran boundary Fisheries Stocks
• Federal & Territorial Responsibilities for AS.
• Evaluating the potential for ocean aquaculture
• Threats to Coral Reef Ecosystems
• Mangrove Habitat Degradation

 The Plan will also build on the planning efforts of the various government agencies and provide linkages and coordination on the above issues when they arise for the Territory. Alongside this plan, a public awareness and education campaign is needed to launch information to the public on the completed ORMP. The full term of this project is three years beginning in October 2001 and carrying through to September 2004.

For more information on this, please contact the Department of Commerce/American Samoa Coastal Management Program at 633-5155.