There's concern up to 4,000 litres of fuel and tonnes of dead fish could be spilled into the ocean in American Samoa where a fishing vessel ran aground.
The Taiwanese-flagged longlier hit the reef off Coconut Point on Friday, leaving its crew with minor cuts and scratches.
Efforts to salvage the longliner have so far been unsuccessful because of bad weather.
Our correspondent Monica Miller says there's an increasing threat oil will leak from a three foot hole in the vessel's hull.
She says there's also concern people will try to eat the fish that had been caught by the longliner and have now spilled into the lagoon.
"Some of the catch of 75 tonnes that is on board, that people will think that the fish that they are seeing in the ocean is okay to eat. But the coastguard says that the fish is largely contaminated."
The Seahawk No.68 aground on a reef near Pago Pago. Photo: RNZI/Monica Miller
