Tri Marine International will indefinitely suspend canning operations at its American Samoa based subsidiary Samoa Tuna Processors effective Dec. 11 and is seeking a buyer, the company said.

"The challenging economics of canning tuna in American Samoa combined with external factors facing STP make Tri Marine’s private-label focused business model for operating the plant economically unsustainable in today’s market," company CEO Renato Curto, CEO said in a release. "Tri Marine is currently evaluating alternatives for the facility including outright sale, preferably to a strategic buyer.”

Company employees were informed today.

In a release, Cuarto called the decision "one we make with a great deal of reluctance” and attributed it to "adverse business conditions."

“Though we are suspending canning operations, Tri Marine will continue to operate STP as a logistics hub for the Tri Marine Group. Unfortunately, this will mean a much reduced labor

force,” said Curto. “Our focus at this time is to ease this transition for our employees and to readjust so we can continue to deliver the same high-quality product our customers expect from us.”

The STP plant, which planned to employ 1,500 on the island, was the result of a $70 million investment and four years of rebuilding and expansion work, and opened in January 2015. Its products carried the "Made in USA" label.

Tax credit

Late last year, Tri Marine made headlines, when it was excluded from "30A", the American Samoan tax credit, which has helped saved Starkist millions of dollars in the US territory.

On Dec. 18, the US congress passed a spending bill that re-extended the American Samoa Economic Development Credit for the 2015 and 2016 tax years.

But the legal language in the bill authorizing the credit specified that only firms who had plants open before Jan. 1 2006 were eligible to receive it.

This ruled out Tri Marine and Samoa Tuna Processors, which opened a $70 million canning plant in 2014.