Post-World War Two, the West and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) became an important
destination for distant water fleets (DWFs) targeting the regional tuna fisheries. Initially
from Japan and the US, by the 1960s the DWFs active in the region had expanded to
include vessels from South Korea, Taiwan and other Pacific Asian countries. The increase
in fishing activity created a ready source of supply for tuna processing. Seizing this market
opportunity, in 1954, Van Camp, a US fish processing and marketing company, built a
new tuna cannery in Pago Pago. The move was especially strategic because American
Samoa’s capital is located near the tuna rich waters of the WCPO; also, in 1951, a US navy
base had closed there, leaving behind a socio-economic void for the territory’s citizens
who were once employed by the military economy; a void that government was anxious to
fill (Crocombe, 1995:273). Following Van Camp’s lead, in 1963 StarKist Samoa (SKS) set
up tuna canning operations adjacent to the Van Camp plant.