American Samoa's StarKist Samoa cannery has stopped production and given employees the day off because of an apparent lack of fish.
KHJ News in Pago Pago said it expected the staggered shutdown to continue until the cannery got sufficient fish supplies.
All this week, production tables at the plant took turns shutting down as there were not enough fish to process and pack.
Photo: RNZI
A spokesperson for StarKist Michelle Faist said the company's business model was highly dependent on the US-flagged purse seine fleet making direct delivery of fish.
She said without a reliable and reasonably priced fish supply, the plant could not operate efficiently.
She also said with a new tuna treaty now in place, the company expected fish supply to stabilise to allow regular production.
