Indonesian Tuna

Indonesian Tuna
Fishery Improvement Project

Last updated 18 April 2012

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

Sustainability Information:

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

For sustainability information of these fisheries please click here.

Date Launched: 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 100 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).
FIP Participants:
Other Partners/Stakeholders:
Progress:

 

SFP has been hosting roundtables – meetings where the key industry members are brought together to reach a shared understanding of their common interests and agreement on forming an alliance committed to collectively resolving the fishery’s problems.
  • April 2010 – Meeting between SFP and Indonesian Tuna Longline Association (ATLI) and Indonesian Tuna Association (ASTUIN) 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. 
  • May 2011 – Indonesia Tuna roundtable created with buyers and processor/exporters from Indonesia and NGOs (WWF, Monterey Bay Aquarium). Status of Indonesian fisheries, including challenges, opportunities, and progress, were discussed.
    Throughout 2011 – Meetings held between SFP and Amacore (tuna buyers in Netherlands) and PT Intimas Surya (a tuna longline company managing almost 100 longliners and one of the major tuna processors and exporters in Indonesia) to engage in the FIP. 
  • September 2011 – Second meeting between SFP and Indonesian Tuna Longline Association (ATLI) and Indonesian Tuna Association (ASTUIN) to update on FIP progress and agree on further advancements; development of a whitepaper and workplan.
  • October 2011 – Workplan and whitepaper drafted by FIP participants.
  • Early December 2011 – Cannon Fish (US-based tuna importer) and Open Seas (Netherlands-based tuna importers) showed interest in joining the current FIP.  Intimas Surya and Amacore encouraged these new FIP participants.
  • January 2012 – FIP participants (Intimas Surya, Amacore, Cannon Fish, and Open Seas) approved and signed the FIP agreement and discussed and approved the FIP workplan.
  • February 2011 – 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 2012 – 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. 

 

 
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. 2010
 
NMFS. 2011. US Foreign Trade. The Fisheries Statistics Division of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
 
WCPFC. 2009c. 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 
 
FIP Contact:
If you would like more information about the FIP or wish to support the FIP, please contact SFP
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related Information 

Email FIP contact

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Related Documents

Indonesian Tuna Supply Chain Analysis (PDF)

Scoping Out: Indonesian Tuna Fisheries (PDF)

Indonesian Tuna at Global Market (PDF)

Indonesia Tuna White Paper (PDF)