MDPI and Anova Fishing & Living form a partnership which aims towards improvement and development of sustainable tuna fisheries in Indonesia and the wider region

MDPI: Masyarakat dan Perikanan Indonesia, the newly formed Indonesian foundation becomes the main implementer on the ground of Anova Fishing & Living activities. In the future MDPI will be contracted with the task of implementing a large proportion of the CSR related activities of Fishing & Living.

MDPI is equipped with staff, experience and knowledge on the many and varied aspects of Indonesian and regional tuna management concepts, both from a sustainable fishery objective and from that of the community development side. Fishing & Living realizes the value of having an NGO such as MDPI support its implementation of fisheries improvement programs on the ground, sees MDPI’s ability to liaise successfully with the government on behalf of tuna industry throughout Indonesia and also the ability of MDPI to bring together stakeholders from various streams of the tuna industry in the region.

“Working with MDPI allows Fishing & Living to continue aiming for its own mandate of improvement for the sustainability and the communities of the tuna fishery in Indonesia but with a new and innovative approach”. ”We understand that sustainability is bigger than the CSR program of one company, we need to work with organizations who have the ability to reach a wider spectrum of players and who have a vision similar to ours…..this is what the partnership with MDPI means for us and our work on sustainable tuna in South East Asia and beyond!”

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On 20-24 January 2014 last, three newly hired port sampling sites managers (who will be placed in already functioning data collection sites in Nusa Tenggara Timor and in the Moluccas) had a five day Fair Trade training, in the office of Yayasan Masyarakat dan Perikanan, Indonesia in Bali. The new Fishing & Living sites managers will be responsible in carrying out the fair trade implementation on the ground within the Fairtrade pilot sites in the Moluccas, as well as managing and supervising the data collection in the respective sites.. During this fair trade training, it was briefly explained about the fair trade concept to the three new sites managers, as well as the history and the development of this different concept of developmental trade; how Fairtrade is designed to allow the rural farmers (and now Fishermen) to develop systems which allow them to develop themselves and their communities in a practical way for the future of their resource.

The first Fair Trade USA Capture Fisheries Standard was also discussed in detail during the training. The standard describes all of the Fair Trade USA Compliance Criteria which need to be implemented over a 6 year period to attain all of the requirements which FT USA specifies as essential for complete compliance to the standard. The compliance criteria are divided into several sections and should be completedby all of the stakeholders involved in the process.

The final product of the training was the generation of an extensive work plan which contains specific activities to be completed in the next six months based on the standard. We are pleased to report that at the end of the meeting, all the new sites managers were extremely positive regarding this Fair Trade implementation on the ground. The Fair Trade program will hopefully allow the fishermen the opportunity to become more empowered, not only in a social sense but also in an economic sense.

Article by: Nilma Wati

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MDPI celebrating our partner fishermen: a range of events in MDPI field sites to appreciate the ongoing partnership we have built with the communities across Indonesia

In order to celebrate all the fisherman the Foundation Masyarakat dan Perikanan, Indonesia ( MDPI ) works with, we initiated an event this April 6, which incorporated the fishermen , their families  and local government bodies. MDPI coordinated all its working field sites, namely Kupang , Maumere , Ambon, Lombok and Bone to conduct activities fitting to the theme ” Towards Sustainable Fisheries: Better future for Indonesian fishermen ” .

The activities included a cooking competition for the fishermen’s wives, various video screening events, group discussions on current issues and problems of fisheries and lastly open MDPI offices where coffee and snacks were available for everyone. These activities are carried out simultaneously on April 5 (Maumere and Bone) and & 7 April 2014 (Lombok and Kupang). These simple activities had a strongly positive response from the communities….positives highlighted were increased Fishermen awareness, the role of MDPI in the community’s was reaffirmed and the issue of seafood as an important source of protein, especially in rural coastal communities, was highlighted.

Video screenings in several locations showed, among others, the I- Fish video (explaining how the MDPI port sampling is conducted and the importance of improved data for Indonesia); a turtles life and its journey through the oceans; what to do with a turtle if it is accidentally captured; a video documentary on fishing activities and also some entertainment films.

The discussion ranged from the obstacles faced by fishermen within their field, the importance of data collection and possible solutions towards together achieving sustainable fisheries.

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Maumere is one of MDPIs data collection locations and hence is also the recipient of various social programs run by MDPI. In order to celebrate Coral Triangle Day, which fell on the 6th of June 2014, the MDPI held an environmental workshop with the aim of coaching environmental appreciation and knowledge to the up and coming teachers of Muhammadiyah Teachers’ Training College, Maumere with the theme “Know Your Environment for the Future”. 26 Participants attended the event. The activity was officially opened by the vice-rector of University of Muhammadiyah saying “The spirit and importance of social activities aiming towards environmental maintenance need to be improved to jointly protect and improve the public’s understanding of nature and to love the environment”.

The MDPI team on site Adlien, Wildan and Bestson acted as the facilitators in delivering materials on sustainable fisheries, fisheries potential of Indonesia, and organizational management. Topics and objectives of the training were motivated by Indonesia being one of the 6 countries included in the Coral Triangle region and as millions of Indonesian citizens depend on fisheries and coastal activities.

“Indonesia certainly deserves to be protected and preserved ….sustainability supports both the fishery and the welfare of the communities. Happy Coral Triangle day…..”

The activities described in this article were conducted through kind donation from Anova Food LLC

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Anova, MDPI, other industry, NGOs and Indonesian government join forces through AP2HI to move Indonesian handline and Pole and Line tuna fisheries towards sustainability

Last June 24, the Ministry of marine Affairs and Fisheries, specifically the department Sumber Daya Ikan (SDI) supported a collaborative meeting between Industry members of the organization “Asosiasi Perikanan Pole and Line dan Hand Line Indonesia (AP2HI)”, together with NGOs (MSC, WWF, MDPI, IPNLF), IMACS USAID and others to discuss the path of these 2 sustainable gears  (Handline and pole and line tuna) towards Marine Stewardship Certification (MSC).

“There are many aspects about Indonesian tuna fisheries which make this path to sustainability difficult but the industry has the power and initiative to drive it forward and Anova aims to be a driving force behind this”, “It is especially with the support of government, the various actively involved NGOs and the momentum which the group within AP2HI have gathered that makes this vision achievable” (Helen Packer, Fishing & Living Sustainability and Science coordinator).

A follow up meeting in July will discuss in more detail the responsibilities of the various stakeholders and a letter of commitment will be signed before this meeting by the various industry members to show their dedication to this goal.

The goal: Collaborative vision and hard work aiming to get Indonesian handline and Pole and Line tuna certified by end 2016.

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MDPI, Fishing & Living’s partner organization in Indonesia, presented its work on traceability and FairTrade in Indonesia

The biennial  IIFET conference brings together  academics, government policymakers and regulators, members of the fishing and aquaculture and related industries, and nongovernmental agencies and was held this year in Brisbane, Australia from 7-11 July (http://iifet2014.org/about-iifet/).

MDPI (implementation partners to F&L in Indonesia), along with its partners from the IFITT program (Improving fisheries information and traceability for tuna), Wageningen University and ThisFish were invited as speakers on a panel of a special session entitled ‘Extending the Business Case for Traceability from the Global North to the Global South’.

Anova is partnering with the IFITT project to work on innovative traceability initiatives which aim to highlight the need for traceability and how it can be a tool which promotes transparency, supports the improvement of data flows in ‘fish rich but data poor’ countries such as Indonesia and which ultimately creates a pathway of information from source to plate. “We want traceability to show the world we are working with and sourcing from high quality, sustainably sourced and ethically compliant fisheries”.

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Basic training in First Medical Response (MFR) for FairTrade Fishermen and Fishing Industry in Ambon, Maluku

  As part of the Fair Trade pilot program being implemented in Anova supply chains in Eastern Indonesia, MDPI, Fishing & Living’s partner on the ground, held a Fair Trade sponsored,  first response medical training for a selected number of fishers, processing plant staff and villagers. The idea behind the training was to ensure that an adequate number of trained persons are available in each village or landing area to accommodate any emergencies which may occur related to fishermen or fishing activities.

20 people participated in the training: 8 people from Assilulu, Ambon based fisher associations, 4 from Buru island based fisher associations, 4 MDPI Staff and 4 from our partner processing facilities in the region.

The head of the national search and rescue agency (Basarnas) for the Maluku region opened the training and explained that the training would be conducted using 2 methods, theory and practice.  Additionally, Lalu Hizbulloh, MDPI, motivated the participants to describe real life situations. Field conditions for fishermen are very prone to accidents and rural fishing villages have limited access to to health centres and hospitalss.

The trained individuals are now confident to help anyone subject to minor accidents, at least to such a level that the transfer to the nearest hospital is possible. The participants were specifically chosen to ensure that trained individuals are spread out between all the villages participating in the Fair Trade project. In addition to the training, medical posts were created in each location where there is a trained first responder. Each village was given an extensive medical kit with materials and medical products to support the trainee in conducting his/her duties as local first aid appointee.

MDPI would like to thank Fair Trade and Anova LLC for their kind contribution in making this training possible.

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Bumble Bee / Anova will fund and coordinate thorough Masyarakat dan Perikanan Indonesia (MDPI), an assessment of Banda Aceh and the Aceh province to identify potential for improvement and development of the local fishing industry.   MDPI’s assessment will include a thorough investigation of the area, the status of the local fisheries, the capabilities of the local fishing industry and the prospects for growth and expansion”

This was the commitment given by Bumble bee/ Anova  representatives, from MDPI, to President Bill Clinton in a small village Lhok seudu in the province of Aceh last Saturday,  19^th July. Bill Clinton is currently conducting a South East Asia trip with his foundation (Clinton Foundation) to visit ongoing projects, meet commitment givers and see possibilities for new projects. He chose to return to the village of Lhok seudu, where he had previously visited 10 years ago, just months after the tsunami of 2004.

The assessment has already began on site in Aceh and MDPI will present the findings and any potential follow on activities which develop from the analysis of the area, to the CGI Summit in New York, in September.

“We hope that the assessment will  bring positive findings and that a wider project which could bring about enhancement and development of the region will follow”

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Fishing & Living spent 2 weeks in Bali with the MDPI team to review FIP progress and update the FIP workplan. Fishing & Living had the opportunity to discuss progress of all MDPI activities with MDPI’s FIP manger (Wiro Wirandi) and MDPI’s directors (Momo Kochen and Aditya Utama).

One of the main milestone for year 2014 is the National Tuna Management Plan (NTMP) scheduled to be released before year end! The NTMP has undergone substantial re-drafting following public reviewing during which MDPI has been actively advocating, together with other NGOs, for better alignment with the MSC Principles and Criteria.

Helen Packer & Wiro Wirandi

MDPI is focusing on a number of fisheries improvement activities:

–  Advocating for better regional management at the WCPFC level

– Supporting the government of Indonesia in adopting WCPFC measures in legislation

– Data collection for the Yellowfin Handline Fishery

– FAD registration

– Boat registration

– Supporting the implementation of provincial co-management groups where fishermen, supplier, fishery managers, scientists and NGOs decide together on how to manage their fishery

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Working towards the finalization of the National Tuna Management Plan (NTMP), the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF), MDPI, the International Pole and Line Foundation and (IPLNF) and the national Research Centre of Fisheries Management and Conservation (P4KSI) held a workshop on harvest control strategies on 30-31 October.

The event was attended by RFMO’s scientists from both the Western and Central Pacific Commission (WCPFC) and  the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), environmental NGOs (WWF Indonesia, Greenpeace, ISSF, CSIRO and The Asia Group).  Industry stakeholders weer also invitde was represented by Indonesia Handline and Pole and Line Association (AP2HI) and also scientists from Wageningen University (Netherlands) and Murdoch University (Australia).

The two-day meeting brought together experts to support the development of Harvest Control Rules and reference points for the Indonesian Handline and Pole and Line tuna fisheries in territorial waters (area from 0-200miles from the coast) and to align the needs of the government by utilizing the capabilities and protocol of the recently developed database system I-Fish.

The following points were communicated by the various stakeholders:

• It is logical to use the regional level stock assessment as it takes into account all fishing mortality
• Indonesia must formulate a harvest control policy that balances and gives effect to both IOTC and WCPFC measures (e.g. difference harvest control rules in different areas)
• Critical information to develop HCRs are size data, long-term catches and basic biological information
• Current gaps in data for effective management in Indonesia are: catch estimates, number of active vessels, observer data, logbooks and VMS.
• The National Tuna Management Plan must define the objective for the fisheries; define reference points and a management approach; and must state the objective of developing harvest control rules compatible with RFMO measures

The next steps are:

• November 2015: To revise the National Tuna Management Plan to include principles for developing reference points and harvest control rules.
• Organize 2 more workshops in year 2015
• Communicate with Industry associations regarding Harvest Control Rules
• Continue improving the collection of data required by regional management organizations (WCPFC and IOTC).

What are Harvest Control Rules?

A Harvest Control Rule is a pre-agreed action to be taken by a management body (in this case the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries) designed to achieve a medium or long-term target reference point while avoiding reaching a limit reference point. Simple Harvest Control Rules can be described as an “if, then” statement. An example of a very simple Harvest Control Rule would be “if the fishery stock level falls below the target level, then the level of fishing must be reduced by 20 percent.” Managers may additionally agree in advance what the specific management actions are to reach that 20 percent reduction in the level of fishing, such as a regional closure or gear restriction.

What are target and limit reference points?

A Reference Point is a benchmark value that helps managers decide how the fishery is performing and is often based on an indicator such as fishery stock size or the level of fishing. Fisheries scientists conduct a fishery stock assessment to provide estimates of a fishery stock size and fishing mortality over time. Reference Points serve as a standard to compare those estimates based on our understanding of the biological characteristics of the targeted species. Reference points can mark a limit, which represents a level that managers aim to avoid, or a target, which managers strive to achieve and maintain.

Limit Reference Point– similar to a red light. When you approach it, you stop. It is a fishery stock size or level of fishing that managers do not want to reach or exceed. It typically considers only the biological state of the stock.

Target Reference Point– similar to a green light, but more like a bull’s-eye on an archery target. It is a fishery stock size or level of fishing mortality that we aim for. It incorporates biological, ecological, social, and economic considerations. It should never be lower than the Limit Reference Point and should be sufficiently higher to ensure managers have a buffer to account for uncertainty.
Where does Yellowfin Tuna stand?

Currently, only a Limit Reference Point has been defined (20% Spawning Biomass at Fishing Mortality=0) by the WCPFC. Target Reference Points have not been defined yet. Based on 2014 Stock assessment Yellowfin tuna is no overfished and overfishing is not occuring.

The stocks are above the limit reference point.

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