Over the last few months, a lot of progress has been made on the Indonesian Fisheries Improvemet Project! The FIP has been in place since 2011 and aims to bring Marine Stewardship Council certification for the fishery. A number of organizations have been actively engaged in the project through their cooperation and support in various projects that Fishing & Living and MDPI are implementing. The Asosiasi Perikanan Pole & Line dan Handline Indonesia (AP2HI) is also bringing together a number of companies, both Handline and Pole & Line, to work on the FIP.

Here’s a summary of the work that we have been involved in over the last few month in driving forward the Indonesian Handline FIP.

1. Tuna Fisheries Management

 The National Tuna Management Plan (NTMP) for Indonesia’s tuna fisheries was released by the government of Indonesia in November 2014. The NTMP is the results of a comprehensive multi-stakeholder and consultative process. The aim of the document is to achieve sustainable fisheries through improved management and harvesting strategies. The NTMP covers all areas of fisheries management including management of tuna stock, by catch species and Endangered, Threatened and Protected species through the Ecosystem Approach to Fiseheries Management (EAFM). The english version of the NTMP is available here.

Harvest strategies have not been included in the NTMP yet and are being explored through workshops such as the first Harvest Control Rules workshop that took place in October 2014 in Bali. This workshop brought together a number of key stakeholders such as the ministry of fisheries (MMAF), the International Sustainable Seafood Foundation (ISSF), the International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF), the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), NGOs such as Greenpeace, WWF and MDPI, universities, research institutes and AP2HI. During this workshop, the Ministry of Fisheries have agreed to develop harvest control rules (HCR) through the establishment of a HCR working group for which goals, activities and timelines were set for the first half of 2015. The second workshop is scheduled to take place in June 2015.

New Regulations- Under the new Minister of Fisheries (Susi Pujiastuti), a number of new regulations have been put in place:

1. Prohibition of trawls and seine nets in all Indonesian waters. The intention being to protect depleted resources. Unclear whether the regulations pertains to purse-seiners.
2. Prohibition to fish for Yellowfin tuna in breeding and spawning grounds (Banda Sea) for all boats larger than 5GT.
3. Temporary suspension of issuance of fishing licenses for all Indonesian waters for vessels constructed abroad (in effect until April 30 2015).
4. Prohibition of export of Oceanic Whitetip and Hammerhead sharks.
5. Prohibition of transshipment at sea unless the vessels offloads in an Indonesian port.

MDPI works on communicating all regulations related to tuna fishing to local authorities and fishermen, suppliers and industry.

Research- The Ministry of Fisheries established the Tuna Research Institute to conduct much needed research on tuna stock status for Pacific area.

Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM)- Several workshops on EAFM were conducted by WWF and provincial level fisheries authorities (DKP). As a result, the Ministry of Fisheries adopted the EAFM approach to develop tuna management, to be made official in 2015 through a ministerial decree.

Fisheries co-management- Data Management Committees (DMCs or local fisheries management groups) are important as they bring together local fisheries authorities, universities, scientists, traders and processors, fishermen and NGOs to collaborate on the management of sustainable fisheries. There are currently 2 DMCs (in South and Eastern Indonesia). DMCs meet twice a year. Two additional DMCs will be formed in the first half of 2015.

Monitoring, Control and Surveillance-Indonesia has a system of community based surveillance program call POKMASWAS, with 1125 groups active in Indonesian fisheries. In addition, fishermen associations in Buru Islands (FairTrade pilot site) have put in place a surveillance system for their fishing areas. The Ministry has recently agreed to support further development of that system.

2. Data collection

Port Sampling- Data collection for Handline fisheries within the MDPI program place in 5 sites across Indonesia (see map). The development of new sites is currently ongoing in 3 new locations (see map). The data is recorded by trained enumerators according to international standards and collated in a database called I-fish, accessible by all parties, including national fisheries management authorities. For 2014, the database recorded approximately 10% of the national recorded handline tuna catch.

Logbooks– Indonesian regulations states that boats over 5 Gross tons (GT) must submit logbooks. Many handline boats are under 5<GT and therefore are not required submit logbooks. However, for those sites where boats are above 5GT, MDPI and F&L have programs to conduct regular socialization and training for logbooks. This is also supported by a ministerial decree for logbook socialization released in October 2014. Additionally, there is also on-going work between the Ministry of Fisheries and the University of Bogor to develop electronic logbooks.

Observers- It is currently not mandatory for boats below 30GT to have observers and most handline boats are below that size class. However, MDPI and F&L are working closely with the Ministry of Fisheries to define whether observers on board handline boats would be useful and implementable to verify enumerator data.

Boat Registration– in 2014, MMAF made the vessel registration opened to the public but currently only include large vessels only. MDPI and F&L are supporting handline fishermen in registering their boats.

3. Ecosystem Impacts

Data collection- Retained and interactions with Endangered, Threatened and Protected (ETP) species are being recorded by MDPI enumerators in the landing sites. ETP species are being recorded through fishermen interviews. The data collected so far indicates by catch of mahi mahi, bullet tuna, marlins, swordfish, skipjack, rainbow runners and baby tuna- all falling under the 5% limit required by MSC. With regards to ETP interaction, the few that occur tend to be

Management measures- Several policies were put in place in 2014 regarding the protection of shark species namely Hammerhead sharks, Oceanic White tip, Whale sharks and Manta rays. The tuna management plan also includes explicit measures to manage bycatch and Ecologically Related Species (ERS) in compliance with RFMO (WCPFC and IOTC) regulations. Additionally, MDPI has prepared a shark release guide for fishermen to be distributed in all MDPI sites in 2015. Workshops on ETPs are regularly conducted in the field sites.

4. Stakeholder coordination and partnerships

Asosiasi Perikanan Pole & Line dan Handline Indonesia (AP2HI) brings together industry players to support the development of the Pole &Line and Handline fisheries in a sustainable way. AP2HI has continued to gain members, now standing at 14 companies, representing 70% of the pole & line and handline sector in Indonesia. This commitment from industry shows the ever-growing support for fisheries development and the goal of Marine Stewardship Council certification throughout the supply chain in Indonesia. A Code of Conduct was recently developed and includes commitment to improving the sustainability of Pole & Line and handline fisheries in all supply chains. AP2HI is to be the client for MSC certification. Links to Code of Conuct, AP2HI FIP workpan, member list. AP2HI gained Tita Nopitawati as their Fishery Improvement Program Director as a dedicated member of staff for driving the FIPs forward. Click here to visit AP2HI’s website.

MDPI Foundation was founded in July 2013 as an independent foundation focused on achieving responsible and sustainable fisheries activities and attempting to provide ongoing care for the conservation of fisheries resources and ecosystems of Indonesia and the region. These attempts towards sustainability are specifically focused on small scale, artisan fisheries. MDPI additionally focuses on supporting the development of the fishing communities and supply chains which are related to these fisheries, through programs which aim to support economic improvements and social stability for the people. Recently, MDPI partnered with AP2HI to implement activities for both the Pole & Line and Handline fisheries. MDPI also has a Fishery Improvement Project manager, Wiro Wirandi, who’s role is to coordinate and supervise all FIP related activities and engaged stakeholders in the program. Click here to visit MDPI’s website.

MDPI/Fishing & Living Partnership: Anova/Fishing & Living formed a partnership with MDPI in January 2014 and is one of the core donors to the Foundation. Fishing & Living also provides support to MDPI in terms of FIP training and engagement of supply chain partners. Click here to learn more about the partnership.

Handline companies working on FIPs– In all our field sites, suppliers are supporting the implementation of FIP activities. Some of these companies are already members of AP2HI and other are in the process of joining. AP2HI, MDPI and Fishing & Living are actively working on engaging more handline companies in AP2HI.

FIP steering committee: In January 2015 that a FIP steering committee was established. The FIP SC brings together all handline and Pole & Line stakeholders such as the Ministry of Fisheries, IPNLF, MDPI, Anova, WWF and AP2HI. The role of the FIP SC will be to ensure that FIP progress is made and will also be an important forum for discussing the path to reach MSC certification.

5. What is next?

Annual Review- Fisheries consultant Richard Banks is due to visit the FIP in May later this year to review the FIP’s annual progress.

FIP Steering committee- The first meeting of the FIP SC will take place in March 2015.

New sites are currently being assessment for the implementation of fishery improvement activities (data collection, logbooks, vessel registration, ETP awareness) as well as FairTrade activities. The MDPI team is currently in the field assessing sites in North Maluku (Morotai), South Maluku (Seram) and Sorong (Papua).

Join us at the 4^th International Coastal Tuna Business Forum will be held May 26-27^th at the Nusa Dua Convention Center in Bali, organized by the Ministry of Fisheries and IPNLF- we look forward to seeing you there! Register here.