Atuu is a village on Tutuila Island, American Samoa. It is located on the coast of Pago Pago Harbor, close to the capital, Pago Pago.
Atuu is the location of two tuna canneries, the main employers in American Samoa.
According to business license records from the Government of American Samoa, the village of Atuu is home to 28 commercial businesses. Most of these are fast-food restaurants, eateries, night clubs, bars, and retail shops. The village is also home to a medical clinic, a laundromat, a consultant organization, and a fish agent. A portion of the StarKist Tuna complex is also located in Atuu.http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/basch/uhnpscesu/pdfs/sam/Pedersen2000vol2AS.pdf (Pages 24-26 and 24-27)
History In 1909, the Marist Brothers founded the Marist Sisters School in Atuʻu, where all instruction was conducted in English. Six years later, in 1915, they established the Marist Brothers School in the same area. In 1975, the Marist Brothers High School was relocated to Malaeloa. By 2024, StarKist Samoa had leased the land from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Samoa–Pago Pago and plans to develop the site for housing guest workers.Darden, T. (1952). “Historical Sketh of the Naval Administration of the Government of American Samoa, April 17, 1900-July 1, 1951”. U.S. Government Printing Office. Page 34.
On February 17, 1944, the U.S. Naval Station’s destroyer repair facility at Atuʻu was finished and officially designated U.S. Naval Ship Repair Unit, Navy 129. The project’s building construction cost was estimated at US$884,860; machinery expenditures were US$344,232, and vehicles US$48,489.Shaffer, Robert J. (2000). American Samoa: 100 Years Under the United States Flag. Island Heritage. Page 180. .
In 1953, the Rockefeller Company launched the first fish cannery on Tutuila Island. A year later, Van Camp Seafood Company — a division of Ralston-Purina at the time — acquired the facility, rebranding it as Chicken of the Sea in 1976. Thai Union Group took over Chicken of the Sea in 2000, but after implementing three federally mandated wage increases within two years, the production line was closed in 2009. Subsequently, in April 2015, the Italian firm Tri Marine, the third-largest seafood provider in the United States, opened a cannery at the same Atu'u location. However, operations were halted in December 2016.Poblete, JoAnna (2020). Balancing the Tides: Marine Practices in American Samoa. University of Hawai'i Press. Page 61. ISBN 9780824883515.
In 1993, a village fire in Atu’u severely burned the house of Judge Falepule Itumalo A’au. He was evacuated to Hawai’i for treatment but died of his injuries.Sunia, Fofō Iosefa Fiti (2001). Puputoa: Host of Heroes - A record of the history makers in the First Century of American Samoa, 1900-2000. Suva, Fiji: Oceania Printers. Page 2. ISBN 9829036022.
In 2002, traditional leaders in Atuu imposed a nightly curfew to combat social problems due to the number of nightclubs.
In 2026, a dispute resurfaced over the administration of Atu'u land, which Paramount Chief Mauga Moi Moi conveyed in 1911 to be held in trust for the people of the Manuʻa Islands. Manuʻa leaders began discussing who should oversee the trust while the Tufele title remains vacant and how commercial lease revenues should be managed for the beneficiaries.
Demographics YearPopulation 2020 236 2010 359 2000 413 1990 408 1980 377 1970 305 1960 186 1950 91 1940 48 1930 41
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