A spokesperson for American Samoa fishing operators says the time for talking is long gone and the only hope for local longliners is for the federal government to buy them out.
Boat owner Carlos Sanchez, who has been appointed to handle affairs for the Tautai Longliners Association, has today supervised the posting of for sale signs on about 18 vessels.
The signs list a number for interested persons to contact.
The governor has said the government's priority is the canneries and the drop in fish prices helps them.
Mr Sanchez says this shows the governor's lack of understanding of the fish business.
We will survive and we will not have to rely on this government for it. We will go to the federal government. We don't have the Samoan flag - we have the US flag. We are going to go to them directly, and when they ask why we went to them directly, I will say that the government over there does not understand that we are the only American flagged fleet.
