Fish Aggregation Device Anchor

DMWR staff are working on concrete blocks for FAD E & F.  There will be a FAD Training in April and these anchors are used as props.  During the training, DMWR staffs will refresh what they've learned in the 2012 FAD Training when they were working on FAD A & C.  Thanks to the fisheries, wildlife and boating access staffs for helping.

These are the other 4 groups that participated the Water Quality Teacher's Workshop that was held at the Lee Auditorium in Utulei by Lucas Moxey a representative from the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Hawaii. 15 Elementary Schools and High Schools were represented in this effort during the 156th Council Meeting in American Samoa.  Teachers learned that water quality is a very important lesson and having children learn that whatever they do on land can affect the drinking water and also affect marine resources that people need in a daily life because they live on an island. Ph, Salinity, Phosphate, Dissolved Oxygen, Nitrate and Turbidity was tested during this Water Quality Teacher's Workshop.

Dedication for Faga'alu Boat Ramp on March 8, 2013

Kitty Simonds the Executive Director of Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPEFMC) and Lieutenant Governor Lemanu Peleti Mauga had the honor of cutting the ribbon for the Faga'alu Boat Ramp.  This boat ramp was funded by WPRFMC for fishermen's in American Samoa to access the ocean, so they can continue what our ancestors started back in the days. All the catch by these fishermen's are collected and the data is send off island to Hawaii so they can analyse and determine the age of the fish and also the history of the fish. Ruth Matagi Tofiga the Director of the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources and staffs along with fishermen's and members of the council that attended the 156th Council Meeting that was held the Lee Auditorium in Utulei.

Necropsy of Beaked Whale at Futiga's Landfill

Dr. Kristi West, Alden Tagarino, Shane Cha and Sa'ia Lavata'i are performing a necropsy along with assistance from Anthony Sagapolutele, Hanipale Hanipale, Ailao Tualaulelei, Avele Lalogafuafua.  They found a baby beaked whale with plastic bottle caps, pieces of wood and a fruit of a tree in the stomach.  This female Beaked Whale was approximately 12.96 ft long and weighing about 880kgs.  Gut samples and Organ Tissue were sent to Hawaii for further investigation.

Beaked Whale stranded at Afono

Alden Tagarino, Fale Tuilagi and Afa Uikirifi are conducting the initial assessment which is getting length and width measurements, tissue samples and determined that it was a Female Beaked Whale.  The first responders helped with setting a boundary where people can't get close where the whale was and Tafito helped to stopped an excavator that was on the way to Vatia so we can dispose the Whale.  Thanks to Va'alele Maiva Mao, the land owner of the site of the stranded for letting DMWR use his land to dispose the Beaked Whale.

Chambered Nautilus

Peter Douglas Ward is a Paleontologist, and Paleontologist is the scientific study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and environments (their paleocology). Chambered Nautilus is one of the prehistoric animal, they are consider Cephalopods like octopuses and squids, the species has about 90 tentacles. 
Peter Ward and Gregory Barord did a project in American Samoa with a collaborative effort from NOAA and the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources.  They drop a camera attached to traps with chicken as baits and they found 4 nautilus in total for their scientific purposes. Peter and assisting scientists weigh, measure the length, the width and got an x ray photo of each nautilus that they found half a mile off the Tafuna International Airport.

Fishing Activity

Participants were divided into 3 groups and a package of a string and 100 fishes cut from papers were given to the groups.  The string represents the no take mpa and the fishes represent the benefit from the mpa after Spillover.  Spillover is when fish reproduce and multiply in numbers (Abundance) and the area can't fit no more, so fishes come outside of the mpa and some stay inside of the mpa because they are territorial animals.  There are 3 rounds and 10 seconds each, each participant should put their left arm behind them and use their right arm to fish with like a fishing pole.  After each round the different groups should count fishes inside and outside of the mpa.  They key of the activity is managing how you fish, take fish according to what people can consume, not over fishing.  

Sione with the no-take mpa presentation

Sione with the no-take mpa program with the presentation on the different types of mpa in American Samoa, the benefits of having an mpa and why mpa's are important.  There was a fishing activity after the presentation.  It is an example to the community that you can only fish outside of the marine protected area but not inside the no take.  Swimming, Research and Diving is only allowed in this area. Destructive fishing methods was another topic that the community talked about.

Tafito with the opening remarks

Tafito Aitaoto the leader of the No-Take MPA Program is starting off the outreach with his opening remarks to the community of Faga'alu.  Thanks to Peter Taliva'a with the Marine Debris and Education Division in DMWR for assisting the no-take mpa during this outreach.  Posters, Brochures, Newsletters, and Stickers were left over for the community to take so they would understand more about the mpa program.

Faga'alu Community at No-Take MPA Program Outreach

Member of the Faga'alu village during an outreach by the No-Take MPA Program in the Department Of Marine and Wildlife Resources.  Approximately 40 people attended the outreach along with the mayor of the village of Faga'alu Mr. Uso Lago'o.  Thanks to the mayor for a job well done contacting the community to participate the outreach, because during the Planning of their Watershed Action Plan the committee agreed to have a marine protected area in their village.  DMWR is waiting for the village council to discuss the issue and then they will contact Tafito Aitaoto the leader for the program for the next step.