Indonesian Tuna
Fishery Improvement Project

Last Update: April  2013
 

Species:  yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus)

FIP Scope/Scale: Fishery level

Fishery Location: Indonesia EEZ, Indian Ocean

For map see: 

Stock
Stock Link
Yellowfin tuna – Indian Ocean
Bigeye tuna – Indian Ocean


FIP Contact: If you would like more information about the FIP or wish to support the FIP, please contact SFP. 

FIP Participants:

FIP Stakeholders:

Sustainability Information:

Stock
Jurisdiction
Fishery link
Yellowfin tuna – Indian Ocean
Indonesia & IOTC

For sustainability information of these fisheries please click here.

Date Publicly Announced: January 2012

FIP Stage: 3, FIP activities underway
 
Current Improvement Recommendations:
  • Promote traceability to ensure that the origins and status of tuna products purchased are well-known and all coming from legal fisheries
  • Improve the availability of accurate data on catches and bycatch
  • Improve the management and policy to support sustainable management of the tuna fisheries. 
Background:
 
Indonesia is the biggest tuna-producing country in the world, contributing 15 percent of global tuna production in 2009, followed by the Philippines, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Spain (FISHSTAT-FAO 2010).  However, in terms of export, Indonesia only contributes about 4 percent of total global tuna export for fresh, frozen, and canned tuna (Globefish 2010).
 
Yellowfin tuna accounts for 29 percent of total commercial tuna landings in Indonesia, while bigeye tuna accounts for 7 percent (MMAF 2010). The fishing grounds for Indonesian tuna fall under two convention areas, Indian Ocean and Western Central Pacific Ocean.  The Western Central Pacific Ocean currently supports the largest industrial tuna fishery in Indonesia, contributing almost 80 percent of total Indonesian commercial tuna production, while Eastern Indian Ocean contributes 20 percent of total commercial tuna catch from Indonesia (FISHSTAT-FAO 2010). Main fishing gears for the tuna fishery in Indonesia are longliner, traditional hook and line, and purse-seiner combined with FADs (fish aggregation devices).
 
Indonesia joined the Indian Ocean Tuna Convention (IOTC) in 2007 and is still in the process of achieving full member status for Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).
 
The main challenges to this fishery include:
  • Inaccurate, incomplete, and inconsistent catch data reporting
  • No data on the artisanal tuna fisheries - the current available annual catch data of tuna fisheries from Indonesia is collected from larger vessels
  • The existing annual catch data from capture fisheries statistics for Indonesia do not show the annual catch estimate for each species for each fishing gears.  Retained and bycatch data is limited or not available.
Market for Indonesian tuna
Tuna products are the second biggest Indonesian fishery product exports, contributing 14 percent of total export value or about USD 352 million in 2009. The main markets for tuna export from Indonesia are Japan (35%), the United States (20%), Thailand (12%), European Union countries (9%), and Saudi Arabia (6%) (MMAF 2010).
 
Indonesia is also the biggest fresh and frozen tuna supplier to the US, contributing about 27 percent (or about 13 thousand tonnes) of total US fresh and frozen tuna import in 2010, valued at USD 112 million (NMFS 2011).  Indonesia was the leader of tuna supplying countries to Japan (mainly yellowfin and bigeye), supplying about 20 thousand tonnes per year of tuna to Japan’s market.  Indonesia only contributes about 2 percent of total canned tuna import to the EU market, amounting to 9,800 tonnes in 2008.
 
FIP Objectives:
  • Promote traceability to ensure that the origins and status of tuna products purchased are well-known and all coming from legal fisheries by engaging the supply chains
  • Improve the availability of accurate data on catches, retained and bycatch
  • Collaborate with other NGOs working on tuna fisheries issues in the country, including working together to improve the management and policy towards sustainable fisheries
This FIP involves approximately 28 tuna longliners operating in the Indian Ocean and Indonesia EEZ (circa 10% of total Indonesian longliners operating in the Indian Ocean). So the objectives fall into two phases:
  • Phase 1: To establish a demonstration project showing how improvements could be achieved in tuna longline fisheries.
     
  • Phase 2: To use the output of this FIP as lessons learned for a broader range of tuna stakeholders (i.e., tuna associations) to expand the participation to include other RFMOs (i.e., in the Western Central Pacific Ocean).
Progress Update:
2010
  • First meeting between SFP and Indonesian Tuna Longline Association (ATLI) and Indonesian Tuna Association (ASTUIN) took place in April to identify key fisheries issues. Throughout 2010, dialogue initiated with WWF, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF), and individual members of the tuna associations to engage, support, and develop the FIP. 
2011
  • Meetings held between SFP and Amacore (tuna buyers in Netherlands) and PT Intimas Surya (a tuna longline company managing 28 longliners and one of the major tuna processors and exporters in Indonesia) to engage in the FIP.  Later on, other companies, Cannon Fish (US-based tuna importer) and Open Seas (Netherlands-based tuna importers) also showed interest in joining this FIP.  
  • Second meeting between SFP and Indonesian Tuna Longline Association (ATLI) and Indonesian Tuna Association (ASTUIN) was held in September to update on FIP progress and agree on further advancements; development of a white paper and workplan.
2012
January – March
  • January – FIP participants (Intimas Surya, Amacore, Cannon Fish, and Open Seas) approved and signed the FIP agreement and discussed and approved the FIP workplan.
  • February – FIP workplan implementation started. FIP participants (represented by Intimas Surya) and SFP had a meeting with a government researcher from the Benoa Research Station, who is responsible for the tuna longline onboard observer program for Indian Ocean tuna, to discuss data reporting training for vessels’ crews and the onboard observer program (e.g., methodology and training materials). The Fisheries Research Department suggested that FIP participants use research observers from the government to train crews in data reporting. FIP participants decided that on-the-job onboard training will be given to boat captain/crew by a trainer, who will be spending at least 30 days on each vessel. The first training session will last for 60 days, in which one trainer will cover two tuna longline vessels.  FIP participants conducted a meeting on to discuss where data will be collected and which data are required by IOTC.
  • March – Intimas Surya appointed a fresh tuna vessel to be the first vessel to receive training. Data recording training started on shore for Intimas Surya staff to understand the data required. The onboard training and onboard observer process is scheduled to begin in the second week of March. 
April – June
April – FIP meeting was held during Brussels seafood show, attended by 3 FIP members and SFP staff to discuss progress of FIP implementation.
 
  • May – Observer program commenced to collect scientific data and information. The data will be analyzed by Loka Tuna Benoa research station.
July – September 
  • July – The second observer spent 82 days at sea (17 April to 9 July 2012), consists of 52 days on board Mutiara 05 (a tuna longline vessel) and 30 days on board KM Hiroyoshi (a collecting boat, which brought the observer back to base). The fishing ground of the vessel is in the high sea, West of Australia, a 10-day sea journey from Benoa Harbour. The third observer is currently on board and is expected to be back at base at the end of September. MOU between Loka Tuna Benoa Research station and FIP member, PT Intimas was signed to implement observer onboard from March 2012 to 31 December 2012.
     
  • August – FIP budget agreed.
October – December
  • FIP meeting was conducted on 12 October to update progress on the implementation. The meeting was held in Jakarta and hosted by the office of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. Meeting attendees included the Indonesian Tuna Association (ASTUIN), Indonesian Tuna Longline Association (ATLI), members of Indonesian tuna and snapper FIPs, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries staff, and SFP. The outputs of the meeting are to continue the observer onboard program in 2013 and to continue improving the catch reporting by the fishing vessels.
2013

January – March
Participants of the FIP met in January in Bali to review the 2012 project implementation and to discuss the plan for 2013. In 2013, FIP participants are interested in expanding the FIP participant membership, as well as the fisheries (including the coastal handline tuna fishery in the Indian Ocean and the Banda Sea, which is part of the Western Central Pacific Ocean).

April 
3 April – SFP facilitated the 3rd Indonesian tuna supplier roundtable. This meeting was attended by existing tuna FIP participants (PT Intimas), about 10 companies that have expressed interest in this tuna FIP or are already working in the handline yellowfin tuna FIP, a representative from Indonesian Tuna Association (ASTUIN), Indonesian Tuna Longline Association (ATLI), and a government representative (Directorate of Capture Fisheries-MMAF).  This meeting provided a venue for the companies involved in tuna industries to share their interests, lessons learned, and challenges in developing and implementing tuna FIPs in Indonesia.
 
 
Click here for a more comprehensive description of FIP results
 
 
Resources:
 
FISHSTAT-FAO. Capture Production 2010. Fishery Statistics. Food and Agriculture Organization.
 
IOTC. 2010. Report of the Thirteenth Session of the Scientific Committee. Victoria, Seychelles, 6-10 December 2010. Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, Seychelles.
 
MMAF. 2010. Marine and Fisheries Statistics 2008. Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries.
 
NMFS. 2011. US Foreign Trade. The Fisheries Statistics Division of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
 
WCPFC. 2009. Stock assessment of yellowfin tuna in the western and central Pacific Ocean. Scientific Committee Fifth Regular Session. SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE FIFTH REGULAR SESSION 10-21 August 2009 Port Vila, Vanuatu.