▁by ▁gr ants ▁from ▁the ▁U . S . ▁Department ▁of ▁Inter ior . ▁The ▁t una ▁can ning ▁and ▁fish ing ▁indust ries ▁provide ▁the ▁majority ▁of ▁the ▁G DP , ▁although ▁tour ism ▁is ▁a ▁prom ising ▁developing ▁sector . ▁Econom ic ▁activity ▁is ▁strongly ▁linked ▁to ▁the ▁US ▁with ▁which ▁American ▁Sam oa ▁conduct s ▁most ▁of ▁its ▁commerce , ▁although ▁American ▁Sam oa ▁does ▁not ▁treat ▁the ▁US ▁as ▁an ▁external ▁trade ▁partner . ▁Fund ing ▁from ▁the ▁US ▁government ▁adds ▁substantial ly ▁to ▁American ▁Sam oa ' s ▁economic ▁well ▁being . ▁Att empt s ▁by ▁the ▁government ▁to ▁develop ▁a ▁larger ▁and ▁bro ader ▁economy ▁are ▁rest rained ▁by ▁Sam oa ' s ▁remote ▁location , ▁its ▁limited ▁transport ation , ▁and ▁its ▁dev ast ating ▁h urr ican es . ▁H urr ican es ▁are ▁relatively ▁inf re quent ▁and ▁although ▁they ▁sometimes ▁cause ▁substantial ▁damage , ▁the ▁total ▁number ▁of ▁death s ▁from ▁h urr ican es ▁in ▁the ▁past ▁ 5 0 ▁years ▁is ▁estimated ▁to ▁be ▁less ▁than ▁ 5 . ▁ ▁Therefore , ▁h urr ican es ▁are ▁simply ▁an ▁incon ven ience ▁and ▁certainly ▁not ▁the ▁economic ▁development ▁cur tail ing ▁events ▁port rayed ▁in ▁many ▁writ ings . ▁ ▁More ▁than ▁ 9 0 % ▁of ▁the ▁land ▁is ▁commun ally ▁owned . ▁T una ▁fish ing ▁and ▁t una ▁processing ▁plants ▁are ▁the ▁back bone ▁of ▁the ▁private ▁sector , ▁with ▁can ned ▁t una ▁the ▁primary ▁export .