VOICES OF PACIFIC ISLANDS FISHING COMMUNITIES
From consultation to change - tracking real action across our islands.
June 10th Presentation on American Samoa work from June 2-8th, 2026
OUR COMMITMENT
Pacific Islands Fisheries Group in coordination with the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, has spent 2025 and 2026 engaging the fishing communities across the Pacific Islands Region on fishing and climate resilience and ensuring community voices are recorded in the process. The information below documents the work and our commitment to our fishing community. For more questions or to get engaged, contact pacificfisheries@gmail.com.
Listening, meeting the community where they are at, and recording the voices of our fishers across the U.S. Pacific Islands Region.
WHERE WE’VE BEEN
SHARK DEPREDATION - increasingly harder to land fish, with sometimes 50% of catch being depredated
─ WHAT WE HEARD ─
INFRASTRUCTURE & ACCESS - repairs taking years to recover, needs more immediate fix.
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE - Seasons are shifting and weather is more unpredictable impacting fishing effort.
GOVERNANCE & TRUST - limited results after decades of closures and protected areas without any local say
DATA GAPS & COLLECTION - fishers data not being recorded for their fisheries.
NEXT GENERATION OF FISHERS - less opportunity and access for youth due to all these combined factors, hurting our culture and future.
ACTION TRACKER
Turning Community input into actionable items and a way forward.
This Action Tracker helps us record all items from the community that were brought up and have clear links to climate resilience and long-term community resilience. We encourage fishers to use the reports and action tracker as a tool for leveraging support and action in their communities.
“There’s been a noticeable increase in shark depredation, oceanic whitetip sharks are the biggest issue”
“Multiple boat ramps are in poor condition, including the main ramp in Pago that floods during high tide”
“There’s a disconnect between fishers and policymakers people keep attending meetings, but don’t see real change”
If this work matters to you and your community, you are a researcher hoping to engage on community-level and needed projects, and are a fisher seeking answers and partnerships, please reach out to us. Pacificfisheries@gmail.com
PIFG Team
This project is made possible under the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council Contract 25-IRA-001.
For more information or to get involved, contact Pacificfisheries@gmail.com