February 7, 2020 — The Indonesian Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries is restricting imports of live fish products from China as part of the country’s efforts to minimize the transmission of the deadly coronavirus, Tempo.co reported on 4 February.
Indonesia reportedly had no confirmed case of the virus as of 6 February.
January 29, 2020 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership:
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) is pleased to announce the official launching of an industry-led national-level fishery improvement project (FIP) covering longline tuna in Indonesia. The FIP is listed on the Fishery Progress website as the Indonesia Indian Ocean and Western Central Pacific Ocean tuna – longline FIP.
The comprehensive FIP is being implemented by the Indonesia Longline Tuna Association (ATLI). The scope of the FIP includes:
A total of 14 companies, consisting of fishing companies and processors and ATLI, signed a letter of commitment at the recent FIP launch meeting, which took place at the ATLI Secretariat in Benoa Harbour, Bali, Indonesia, on January 23, 2020. The launch was also attended by the navy commander of Bali Province, representatives from the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, the quarantine office of Bali, and ATLI members.
The FIP’s goals include four key areas of focus:
”Indonesia is a leading producer of tuna, and implementing this national-level FIP, involving more than 250 longline vessels, can make a global impact in increasing the proportion of shelf-stable and fresh and frozen tuna from well-managed sources,” said Dessy Anggraeni, director of SFP’s Indonesia FIP work.
Members of the Global Fresh and Frozen Tuna Supply Chain Roundtable (SR) are lending their support to the project and 13 SR members have signed a letter expressing their support for development of this FIP.
Dwi Agus Siswa Putra, chairman of ATLI, said, “We are committed to implement the improvement actions listed in the workplan of the longline tuna fishery improvement project, and hope to move towards MSC certification. Furthermore, we strive to make the Indonesia longline tuna regain its position as a prominent product from Indonesia, that is sustainable and that will make all of us proud.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: You can read more about the FIP on the Fishery Progress website here.
January 9, 2020 — President Joko Widodo visited an island in waters disputed by China on Wednesday to assert Indonesia’s sovereignty amid a standoff between Indonesian and Chinese vessels.
The confrontation began in mid-December when a Chinese coast guard vessel and fishing boats, entered waters in Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone, off the coast of the northern Natuna islands, prompting Jakarta to summon Beijing’s ambassador.
Widodo told reporters on Natuna Besar island that the disputed waters belong solely to Indonesia.
“We have a district here, a regent, and a governor here,” he said. “There are no more debates. De facto, de jure, Natuna is Indonesia.”
Widodo also met with fishermen on the island. Earlier this week, Indonesia deployed more ships and fighter jets to patrol the surrounding waters. Nursyawal Embun, the director of sea operations at the Maritime Security Agency, said as of Wednesday morning that two Chinese coast guard vessels remained, while 10 Indonesian ships were on patrol.
January 8, 2020 — Tensions are flaring on the waters of the South China Sea as a sovereignty dispute between Indonesia and China heats up.
Tension between the two countries rose following a series of naval maneuvers by the Chinese coast guard and Chinese fishing vessels in the waters off the coast of the disputed northern islands of Natuna, The Jakarta Post reported 5 January. The islands are located between the Malaysian peninsula and Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo.
January 7, 2020 — D, 28-year-old Indonesian man, was witness to a deadly assault on a fellow boat crew member by the captain when they worked aboard the Taiwanese fishing vessel Da Wang a few years ago. The captain hit his friend in the head, then forced them to continue working.
“In the morning when we woke up for breakfast, we found him dead in his room. The captain wrapped up my dead friend’s body with a blanket and then stored him in the freezer,” D said in an interview in July 2019.
D is one of 34 Indonesian sailors featured in an investigative report by the environmental group Greenpeace and the Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Union (SBMI) published on Dec. 9. The organizations looked into their complaints of forced labor during their employment on 13 fishing vessels registered in China, Taiwan, Fiji and Vanuatu.
The crews’ statements described conditions in which they experienced overwork, withholding of wages, debt bondage, and physical and sexual violence. These conditions eventually forced them to cut short their working contracts, which typically run about two years, and forfeit the deposits they were typically required to pay to get the jobs.
January 6, 2020 — Indonesia will mobilize fishermen to join warships in the South China Sea to help defend against Chinese vessels, the government said on Monday, as the biggest stand-off with China for years escalated off Southeast Asia’s largest country.
In an unusually strong statement, President Joko Widodo told reporters: “There is no negotiation when it comes to our sovereignty.”
The stand-off since last month in the northern Natuna islands, where a Chinese coastguard vessel has accompanied Chinese fishing vessels, has soured the generally friendly relationship between Jakarta and Beijing.
Indonesia’s chief security minister, Mahfud MD, told reporters that around 120 fishermen from the island of Java would be sent to the Natuna islands, some 1,000 km (600 miles) to the north.
December 11, 2019 — Slavery continues to plague the fishing sector in Southeast Asia, according to a new report from Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
Relying on interviews, documents, and other information, the report painted a picture of Indonesian, Filipino, and other Southeast Asian migrant fishermen working aboard distant-water vessels owned by foreign countries and suffering from mistreatment, human rights abuses, and forced labor.
September 17, 2019 — The following was released by the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership:
The Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) is pleased to announce the development of a new, national-level fishery improvement project (FIP) concerning longline tuna in Indonesia.
SFP made the announcement today in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signing ceremony in Jakarta with the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. The prospective FIP includes albacore, yellowfin, and bigeye longline fisheries in the Indian Ocean (WPP 572 and WPP 573) within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Indonesia and international waters (FAO Region 57), as well as yellowfin and bigeye longline fisheries in Western Central Pacific Ocean WPP 714 and WPP 715 (archipelagic waters), and WPPs 716 and 717 (EEZ; FAO Region 71).
SFP’s Target 75 initiative was a part of the driving force behind this FIP. The initiative has set a goal of seeing 75 percent of global production of key seafood sectors, including both shelf-stable and fresh and frozen tuna sectors, to be either sustainable, as in certified by organizations such as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), or showing regular, verifiable improvements. SFP’s analysis of the global tuna sector recommends focusing on larger-scale FIPs like this one that offer economies of scale.
Members of SFP’s Fresh and Frozen Tuna Supply Chain Roundtable (SR) are supporting this developing FIP.
“Since Indonesia is considered to be the world’s largest producer of tuna and has the most abundant tuna fisheries in the world, it was only natural for SFP to promote a national-level FIP of this kind in that country,” said Blake Lee-Harwood, programs strategy director at SFP.
ATLI, the Indonesia Longline Tuna Association, is backing the FIP, along with 14 Indonesian tuna fishing companies and processors, involving more than 250 longline vessels that have committed to participate in this FIP. The ATLI Office in Benoa, Bali, will coordinate ongoing organizational efforts.
“This could be a historical milestone for the longline tuna fishery improvement project towards MSC certification,” said ATLI Chairman Dwi Agus Siswa Putra. “We hope that longline tuna will regain its position as a prominent product from Indonesia that makes all of us proud.”
September 5, 2019 — The Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) focused on increasing the accessibility of the MSC’s market-based program to fisheries in Indonesia.
The agreement covers cooperation in the development of fishery improvement projects (FIPs), sharing of sustainable fishing best practice using the MSC ‘s Fisheries Standard, and capacity building. The MoU was signed by Nilanto Perbowo, MMAF’s secretary general, and Patrick Caleo, MSC’s Asia Pacific Regional director.
July 10, 2019 — In the fall of 2018, leading shelf-stable seafood provider Bumble Bee Foods began utilizing blockchain technology to track products all the way through its supply chain. The brand has seen significant success from harnessing the abilities housed within the cutting edge technology.
“We’ve had nothing but overwhelming positive feedback from the industry and retailers,” Bumble Bee Foods senior vice-president and CIO Tony Costa told me in an interview.
As a top provider of shelf-stable seafood in North America, Bumble Bee produces products such as canned tuna, salmon and clams. The company also works with frozen goods. “Part of this project is [an] extension of our company. We have another frozen piece of our business called Anova, which we do most of our procurement and resourcing through Asia, mainly out of Indonesia,” Costa said. “The blockchain project has focused around the handline fisheries in Indonesia,” he noted. The project is underway for Bumble Bee’s Natural Blue line, which is part of its Anova brand.
Bumble Bee’s blockchain incorporation uses the technology to track its products from fishers to end consumers, ensuring aspects such as data accuracy and tracking all the way through the supply chain. The beef and grain industries saw similar blockchain application for supply chain with BeefChain and GrainChain.