American Samoa Longline Limited Entry Permit

Fishery Type:
Limited Access

Harvest Type:
Commercial

Species Covered:
Highly Migratory Species

Online Renewal:
No

Logbook Requirements: 
Yes

Transferable:
Yes

Expiration Date:

3 years after date of issuance

Fishing Area:
U.S. EEZ around American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. Pacific Remote Island Areas.

An American Samoa longline permit allows a vessel to fish with pelagic longline gear and to transship longline-caught fish within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ, generally beyond 3 miles from shore) around American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Pacific Remote Island Areas. The permit also allows the vessel to land catch at ports in these areas. The permit does not allow longline fishing within the EEZ around Hawaii or landing catch in Hawaii.

There is a maximum of 60 American Samoa longline permits. Permits are distributed between Small (less than 50 ft) and Large (50 ft or longer) vessel size classes. A permit must be held by a U.S. citizen, national, company, partnership, or corporation.

A permit may be renewed if the permit holder meets the minimum harvest requirement and the vessel owner has a current Protected Species Workshop certificate. A Small vessel must land at least 500 lb of longline caught pelagic fish in American Samoa within 3 years to maintain the permit. A Large vessel must land 5,000 lb within 3 years. 

A transferred permit expires on the same date as the original permit, and the minimum harvest amount for renewal is pro-rated over the remaining period of the permit. A renewed or additional permit is valid for three years from the date of issuance.

Regulations governing this fishery may be found at Title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 665, Subpart F. Other requirements may be found in the American Samoa Longline Regulation Summary.

Additional Requirements

1. Permits and Authorizations:
   • Vessel must carry a valid American Samoa longline permit registered to the vessel on board the vessel.
   • Vessel must carry a valid High Seas Fishing Compliance Act permit, and a Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Area Endorsement on board the vessel if fishing in international waters.
   • Vessel must carry a valid Marine Mammal Authorization Program (MMAP) certificate on board the vessel.
   • Vessel operator must have a valid Protected Species Workshop certificate on board the vessel.
2. Monitoring. A Large vessel must carry an operational vessel monitoring system (VMS) unit supplied and installed by the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement.
3. Observer. A vessel 40 feet or longer must notify the NOAA Fisheries Observer Program 72 hours before departure on a trip and declare whether trip type is deep-set (targeting tunas) or shallow-set (targeting swordfish), and carry a NOAA Fisheries observer if directed to do so by NOAA Fisheries.
4. Reporting:
   • A Small vessel must maintain accurate records of catch, effort, and other data on the paper Pacific Islands Pelagic Fisheries Longline Fishing Logbook and submit logbooks to NOAA Fisheries within 72 hours of returning to port. 
   • A Large vessel must maintain accurate records using a NOAA Fisheries-certified electronic logbook and submit information within 24 hours after the end of each fishing day. If there is a technology malfunction, the vessel must submit completed electronic and/or paper logbook information to NOAA within 72 hours of returning to port.

More Information

• How to Apply
• Current Permit Holders
• Pacific Islands Fishing Permits
• American Samoa Longline Fishery Logbook Summary Reports