StarKist Cannery Begins Operations With Increased Production

The StarKist cannery in American Samoa kicked off its operations for 2026 after a two-week pause in December for its annual holidays. The cannery is expected to produce 450 M/T per day, another 10 M/T more compared to last year’s daily production.

The plant witnessed “one of its highest worker turnouts” when production began last week, reported news site Talanei. A majority of the workforce, as usual, arrived from neighboring Samoa. A spokesperson for the company said that currently, StarKist has about 1,700 workers, which would reach 2,000 by the end of this week. Last month, Injoo Ha, President of the cannery, met with Samoa’s Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt, to rope in at least 300 workers from the neighboring island nation. StarKist also stated that it has taken an initiative to build two new housing facilities for the guest workers.