American Samoa's second largest employer, Samoa Packing General, is laying off about 70 employees this week for an indefinite period.
The General Manager, Herman Gebauer, says that sales of canned tuna in the US are slow.
Mr Gebauer says the staff will be re-employed if the situation improves.
The company has over two thousand employees and for the last three to four months, the cannery has been packing for only 4 days a week.
