UNDERCURRENT NEWS: Tri Marine International subsidiary Samoa Tuna Processors is in the process of hiring its for the new cannery, with an eventual 1,500 jobs expected as production ramps up, reports Talanei.
At this stage STP has 154 employees with recent hires in the maintenance, quality assurance and management departments.
The cannery will begin hiring additional production staff in December, and this will continue throughout January, February and March as STP ramps up production, according to Heidi Happonen, a PR representative for Tri Marine.
For now STP is busy receiving and installing equipment at the plant for a scheduled start in January.
Tri Marine was shocked to learn the US Tuna Treaty negotiations had resulted in the loss of almost all fishing access in Kiribati waters, added Happonen.
American Samoan purse seine vessels will have to reduce their fishing effort in Kiribati waters by more than 95%, she said.
While Tri Marine is highly concerned about the potentially devastating impacts that this loss of traditional fishing grounds will have on the families who rely upon the territory’s tuna industry for their livelihoods, it is actively working on solutions and is not changing its schedule to open the plant in American Samoa.
