July 2017

On July 25^th, 2017, USAID Indonesia launched a Fair Trade program for the handline tuna fishery in North Maluku. This program falls under the USAID Indonesia Sustainable Ecosystem Advanced (USAID SEA) project, of which one objective is the development of local capacity in coastal communities on matters of fisheries management. To achieve this, USAID SEA has chosen the Fair Trade system. Anova Food, LLC will be the market access partner in the program, supporting fishermen to get the Fair Trade product on the market. In addition, Masyarakat Dan Perikanan Indonesia (MDPI), Anova Food, LLC’s main NGO partner in Indonesia, was chosen as the field implementation partner. Already, 4 fishermen Fair Trade associations have been set up with the goal of engaging over 100 fishermen in the program in the next few months.

Anova Food, LLC was the first company to bring Fair Trade certified seafood on the market, since the certification in October 2014. Since then, thanks to a strong partnership with MDPI, over 500 fishermen have joined the program and become certified. This new partnership and expansion in the Indonesian Fair Trade tuna program shows that Fair Trade is an appropriate approach to support the sustainable development of small-scale fisheries in Indonesia.