In July 2019, the Nature Conservancy (TNC) launched a Fishery Improvement Project (FIP) for Indonesian Handline deepwater groundfish fisheries that targets various species of groundfish including snappers, groupers, breams and emperors. Anova Food’s Fishing & Living program is supporting the FIP by committing to a minimum trading size for snapper and grouper from Indonesia. This means committing to only buying fish that are above their maturity size and therefore have had time to reproduce. In addition, Anova Food/Fishing & Living is a member of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership’s (SFP) Snapper & Grouper Supplier Roundtable, which brings together importers to engage suppliers in FIP activities.

The FIP launched by the Nature Conservancy (TNC) will be focused on national level issues, encompassing all demersal Indonesian fisheries. This means TNC will continue its work on towards the establishment of harvest control rules, including data collection, stock assessments, and development of an institutional framework to engage the government and stakeholders in developing fisheries policy. TNC will also coordinate industry engagement in policy and management decision-making process through a formal consultative panel.

Coordination with other FIPs

Parallel efforts are also being implemented by a second national-level FIP lead by the Indonesian Demersal Fisheries Association, which will serve as a coordination and discussion platform among snapper/grouper processors and exporters to address common issues across fisheries by working together with government and stakeholders.

Coordination between the two National-level FIPs (Demersal Association-led FIP and the TNC-led FIP) is being developed. Industry and NGO partners anticipate that even though each FIP may have different approaches, the activities of each FIP will complement each other and move the fishery closer to reaching sustainability goals over the long-term. Examples of complementary activities include availability of MSC pre-assessment, industry coordination through the national association, stock assessments, and private sector involvement in governance.

Latest MSC scores and updates

Latest scores and progress can be found on the FIP’s profile on the fisheryprogress.org.

Updates can also be found on SFP’s Snapper & Grouper Supplier Roundtable webpage.