Advancing Bottomfish Research Through Community Partnerships in American Samoa

NOAA Fisheries, American Samoa's Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, and local fishermen recently completed a groundbreaking bottomfish survey in American Samoa ! As the management of these important species evolves, we are building strong partnerships with local communities to build up our understanding of bottomfish life history.

The waters of American Samoa are home to a diverse array of marine wildlife, but few species are as commercially and culturally significant as the region's bottomfish complex. Bottomfish are deep-water species that live at or near the ocean floor. They're one of the primary sources of protein for residents of American Samoa, where grocery stores can be few and far between.

Historically, scientists have assessed American Samoa's bottomfish species together as a multi-species complex to determine population health and fishing limits. Following an independent peer review in 2023 , the assessment shifted toward assessing the following six key species individually:

• Etelis coruscans (Palu-loa, also known as onaga or longtail red snapper )
• Etelis carbunculus (Palu-malau, also known as ehu or ruby snapper)
• Etelis boweni (Palu-malau, also known as giant ehu or giant ruby snapper, and often not differentiated from Etelis carbunculus )
• Aphareus rutilans (Palu-gutusiliva, also known as lehi or silverjaw snapper)
• Pristipomoides flavipinnis (Palu-sina, also known as goldeneye snapper)
• Pristipomoides zonatus (Palu-ula, also known as gindai or oblique-banded snapper)

The 2023 independent review also highlighted the need for more species-specific biological information to support future assessments of key species in the bottomfish complex. Developing species-specific assessments requires information on reproduction, age, growth, and other life-history components. Collecting these data improves our scientific understanding of these important fish and provides better information to support sustainable fisheries management.

A Shared Purpose

As the NOAA Fisheries team began planning for its first survey, they made sure to engage early and often with American Samoa's Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources and local communities. In February 2026, scientists from the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center traveled to American Samoa and organized fisher participation from Tutuila and the Manuʻa Islands. They met with local communities, talked about the bottomfish fishery and the survey, and showed them the sampling gear and how it would be used. American Samoa residents also played an active role in designing the survey.

"The most successful way to manage these stocks is to engage the local fishermen," says Dr. Eva Schemmel, a fisheries biologist with the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. "They're the ones managing this resource on a daily basis. Collaborating with them not only helps them understand the science that goes into management, it also makes the science better because of the local insight and perspectives they bring."

Before the start of the survey, the NOAA Fisheries team returned to the islands to reconvene with community members and conduct some shore-based sampling of bottomfish from local fishers. The scientists joined American Samoan fishermen in small boats to collect biological samples and worked alongside Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources staff at the third Pago Pago Open Fishing Tournament. Bottomfish were a category for the first time in the tournament, and scientists were able to directly biosample fish there.

The NOAA Fisheries team also trained local fishery representatives to remove fish otoliths (structures of the inner ear that allow us to estimate fish age) and gonads (reproductive organs). This ensured that biosampling will continue even after the conclusion of the survey. In just that 1 week, the teams collected samples from 120 fish.

A New Era of Bottomfish Monitoring

After months of planning and coordination with American Samoa's Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, the survey officially kicked off with the arrival of the NOAA ship Oscar Elton Sette. The NOAA Fisheries scientists were joined by Manu'a Islands fishers Clint Ilaoa and Keith AhSoon and Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources representative Shaun Laolagi. The collaborative team spent 15 days at sea and collected more than 900 biological samples. They met their sampling goals and generated a comprehensive dataset that will strengthen future research and stock assessments in this region.

Scientists also conducted genetic sampling for 100 of the Palu-loa (Etelis coruscans) collected during the survey. These sampling efforts aim to develop alternative, epigenetic ageing methods where age can be estimated from small tissue samples. If successful, this new method for estimating the age of Palu-loa will reduce future sampling costs and allow us to update life history assessments more efficiently.

The information we collected during this survey is invaluable and contributes to our understanding of these important species. The American Samoa bottomfish fishery has a diverse species assemblage. The team observed that fish species were consistently caught and distributed by depth. There was a clear delineation in habitat ranges, potentially due to competition or ecological niches keeping species separate.

American Samoa's bottomfish fishery was last surveyed 10 years ago, and that survey was the primary source of bottomfish biological samples to date. Combined, the samples collected during this year's survey are sufficient to start drafting life history profiles for all six bottomfish management unit species, filling critical scientific gaps. The NOAA Fisheries team is now processing all of the samples in Honolulu.

Community-Centered Science

The partnerships NOAA Fisheries scientists developed and strengthened through this survey effort were just as significant as the data collected. "The way fisheries are assessed in American Samoa and across the Pacific Islands is changing, and those changes are centered on local fisheries," Schemmel says.

One of the aspects of this survey that Schemmel found particularly impactful was the successful distribution of sampled fish back into communities on five of the islands of American Samoa. NOAA Fisheries visited each of these islands at the survey's conclusion with the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, who delivered sampled fish to each island's matai (family chief). The matai, in turn, allocated fish to members of the community.

This exchange ensured fish from the survey were not wasted, and also provided NOAA Fisheries scientists with a valuable opportunity to engage directly with the community. "The matai and the whole community would come out to greet us when we brought these fish with the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources," Schemmel says. "It gave us the chance to talk to them about what we're doing and why."

"Seeing the science behind our fish stocks, while also being able to give the catch back to our communities, encourages us to continue caring for both the land and sea," adds Keith AhSoon, a fisher from Manuʻa who was involved with the survey.

"On behalf of the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, faʻafetai tele [thank you very much] to the whole NOAA Fisheries team," says Nathan Ilaoa, director of the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources. "They worked hard out there in rough conditions, and they did it the right way, with local fishermen and our Department staff alongside them, with the fish caught going to our communities of Tutuila and Manuʻa. We are so grateful for the partnership with the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center and we're ready to keep building on it."

Fisheries monitoring is not just one survey. It's a collaborative effort that lasts years to better understand the fishery from all sectors-recreational to commercial-and across the entire region. Schemmel hopes that this is just the beginning for cultivating cooperative efforts in American Samoa. "This survey not only collected critical life history information we need, it jump-started fisheries monitoring in this region, and it did it in a community-forward way," she says.