For Indonesian BSC, the control document process works like this: First, fishers land their catch with collectors (and their cooking stations). Then, the collectors and enumerators record the catch data on a control document landing report. The cooked crab and landing report are taken to the mini-plant (picking/peeling plant, where the meat is extracted) and this is then also recorded on the control document form. Finally, crab meat product and the control document data are transferred to the processing plant for pasteurization and packaging.
APRI has developed a mobile application, APRI Apps, to allow the supply chain to enter all of the landing, cooking, and peeling data. If everyone follows the control document process successfully, BSC products and their associated data can then be traced all the way back to the collectors and the fishing vessels that supplied them. This allows for evaluation of the level of compliance with fishery laws from the time the product is landed to the final export of the product.
The implementation of the control document was pilot tested in key BSC fishing areas in Central Java, East Java (Madura), and East Lampung. This effort required extensive outreach and training to collectors, mini-plants, and processing facilities, in order to better understand the barriers to and opportunities for success before rolling out the program across Indonesia.
In June 2018, the NFI Crab Council launched the full implementation of the control document system with an official start date of July 1, 2018. Now, independent auditors are visiting mini-plants throughout Indonesia to evaluate compliance with the document. Through a mapping project, APRI estimated there are 445 mini-plants throughout the country and is now aiming for 300 mini-plant audits for 2019 (and occasional checks of some of the collectors supplying those plants).
The initial results are very promising. To date, 35 mini-plants have been audited, and were found to have an overall compliance rate of 98 percent. More specifically, the audit has shown low levels of non-compliance for the minimum landing size regulation (5.7 percent) and the prohibitions on catching egg-berried females (8.5 percent), indicating that the regulations in place are being followed well.
There are more parts and pieces to the Indonesian BSC story, including the data collection efforts and community-based co-management activities that are also underway. Stay tuned later this year for more on these activities and updates on the progress of the continued implementation of the control document and audit process for Indonesian BSC.
To learn more about the evolution of the control document process, read this from SFP.
To learn more about the control document and first round of audits, read the APRI report.