American Samoa Government

The American Samoa Government, through its Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, operates as a U.S. territorial government entity and recipient of federal grants in marine conservation, fisheries management, wildlife restoration, vital statistics administration, and public nutrition programs. The entity receives federal funding as a prime recipient on formula grants, project grants, and cooperative agreements—not as a contractor—and holds a single-award indefinite-delivery contract from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for vital statistics data collection. Recent federal activity shows the Department receiving 370 total awards (99% prime) with combined potential value of $10.9 million obligated across $193.5 million in cumulative spend, reflecting multi-year grant cycles typical of territorial government administration.

The Department's capability portfolio centers on three distinct federal grant areas. In marine conservation and fisheries, the Department receives recurring formula grants from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service (CFDA 15.605 Sport Fish Restoration, CFDA 15.611 Wildlife Restoration, CFDA 15.634 State Wildlife Grants) funding fisheries data collection, creel monitoring, marine protected area management, fish aggregation device deployment, seabird and sea turtle population monitoring, and habitat restoration. In nutrition assistance, the Department administers formula grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). In coral reef conservation, the Department received a $1,004,098 project grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (CFDA 11.482 Coral Reef Conservation Program) for reef monitoring, education, and restoration capacity building through September 2027. Recent forest conservation work includes two large project grants from the Department of Agriculture Forest Service under the Inflation Reduction Act Forest Legacy Program—$10.33 million for Naumati Lowland Rainforest preservation and $499,761 for the Naumati Land Acquisition Project, both running through 2029. On the contract side, the CDC Pittsburgh awarded a $2,050,376 indefinite-delivery contract through April 2027 supporting vital statistics data registration, collection, and compilation for the National Vital Statistics System, with two $50,376 delivery orders issued in 2025 and 2026.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted toward the territorial missions of interior conservation and federal nutrition programs. The Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1 alone accounts for 149 awards, with the broader Fish and Wildlife Service portfolio adding 82 awards. The Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service represents 72 cumulative awards across nutrition and emergency food assistance programs. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration carries 34 awards ($157 thousand combined potential value) for coastal and marine programs. When ranked by dollar magnitude, the U.S. Census Bureau leads with $7.6 million across four awards for the economic census support work, followed by the CDC Pittsburgh with $3 million across ten vital statistics awards. This concentration reflects the Department's role as the territorial government entity responsible for managing federal grant programs on behalf of American Samoa's residents rather than competing for federal contracts in the commercial sense.

The Department operates two named parent vehicles: a single-award indefinite-delivery contract with CDC Pittsburgh (HHSD200201792568I) with three task orders carrying $101 thousand combined potential value, and a second IDC (75D30122D13015) with two task orders also valued at $101 thousand. The bulk of the Department's federal activity, however, flows through direct formula grant awards rather than task-order-based procurement vehicles, a reflection of its status as a territorial government recipient administering federally funded programs.

Activity has remained relatively flat across the past five years—21 awards in 2022 to 19 in 2025—with nine awards (combined potential value $50 thousand) facing completion within the next twenty-four months and therefore subject to annual recompetition in the formula-grant renewal cycle. The Department holds one named subsidiary, the American Samoa Telecommunications Authority, a non-profit that has received grants but does not appear in the recent prime award footprint. Sub-award activity is minimal; the Department acts as prime recipient on 368 of 370 awards and appears as a sub-recipient on only two grants awarded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, both in fisheries management planning and watershed restoration.