The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) is taking a progressively tough
stance towards enforcing fisheries regulations by charging three (3) individuals for selling under sized
fish including egg bearing lobsters.
On Tuesday 19 October, one of the accused, Asenati Suni, appeared in the district court to answer to one
count of selling 3 egg bearing lobsters at the Savalalo fish market in December 2020 after previously
receiving a warning by the Fisheries officers for the same offence.
Ms. Suni appeared in court without any legal representation and pleaded guilty to one egg bearing
lobster and claimed the other two lobsters were within the legal requirement. In response to a query
from Judge Loau Donald Kerslake about amending the charge in light of the matter raised by Ms Suni;
MAF lawyer, Glory Fuimaono stated firmly that the Ministry will proceed with the original charge of
selling 3 egg bearing lobsters.
As a result, a court hearing has been scheduled for 22 February 2022 to hear Ms Suni’s position in
disputing the information of the charge.
In addition to Ms Suni, the other defendants who were also scheduled to appear but were not present
during Tuesday’s court hearing included Vaililo Saio and Kepi Taliaoa who both faced charges for
undersized fishing. Ms Fuimaono told the court the Ministry was notified that Mr Taliaoa has been
missing at sea since earlier this year with written confirmation from the Ministry of Police and Prisons,
accordingly the Ministry made an application to withdraw the charge. In the case of Mr Saio, a warrant
was issued for his arrest for failing to show up to court.
The decision to take legal action is part of the Ministry’s increased efforts to combatting unreported,
illegal and unregulated fishing crimes. ACEO Fisheries Division, Magele Etuati Ropeti is warning people
who flout the rules protecting Samoa’s inshore and offshore fisheries that they can expect to pay a price
in hefty fines.
“The penalty for fishing regulation violations carries a fine of up to WST$10,000” says Magele “We are
treating these recent cases very seriously because people are becoming complacent in their
responsibilities to comply with fishing regulations. We must take stronger actions to deter people from
engaging in illegal fishing and destructive fishing practices to ensure that our fisheries resources are
harvested in a sustainable and equitable manner”

Principal Fisheries Officer, Matai’a Ueta Faasili who oversees the Fisheries MCSE unit which conducts
monitoring, control, surveillance and enforcement operations mentioned that enforcement and
prosecutions for fisheries violations are matters of priority in their fisheries management strategy if they
are to achieve their objectives of overall food security and sustainability.
“We want to make sure that we at least give each fish a chance to reproduce before it’s taken out of the
population. By law, people are only allowed to harvest and fish certain sizes for certain species that are
less than 20cm. If we continue to take fish that is not yet matured, we don’t expect much fish in the next
5 or 10 years” Matai’a explained.
“Our fisheries management arrangements are made up of 3 components which includes; science, policy
and legislation. If the regulation component is not enforced effectively, it weakens the impact of the
entire fisheries management process designed to achieve food security and sustainability.”
ENDS