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FAO-MMAF Indonesia partnership for sustainable BSC fisheries: well-targeted policies and concrete field activities built on data, evidence and active stakeholder engagement.

GEF/FAO Indonesian Seas LME project

By IW:LEARN

May 31^st, 2022

Indonesia’s experience in designing Blue Swimming Crab (BSC or Portunus pelagicus) policy and field interventions were built on simulatenous efforts to ensure availability and use of quality data for evidence and with active stakeholder engagement in all program phases from planning, implementation to evaluation. This approach helps foster stakeholder’s ownership and active involvement in efforts to ensure sustainable BSC fisheries management.

Photo: FAO/Maria E. Hulupi

FAO-MMAF Indonesia partnership for sustainable BSC fisheries: well-targeted policies and concrete field activities built on data, evidence and active stakeholder engagement.

The Indonesian seas are rich in marine biodiveristy with high fisheries productivity especially for sought-after fish resources, including BSC, locally known as rajungan. The BSC fisheries play an important role to support family nutrition, food security and livelihood for coastal communities and contribute to national economic growth from fisheries sector. The BSC fisheries is a source of livelihood for around 600 000 small scale fishers and source of income for 185 000 women working in the BSC processing units, according to the BSC Association 2018 data.

For years, the Indonesian seas have been exploited without proper regulatory and implementation measures to protect its fisheries sustainability. Since 1990s, BSC utilization has rapidly increased, propelled by the high market price with rising demands from local and export markets. The latter are mostly to the United States (71 percent), Japan (9 percent), and Malaysia (7 percent). Concerns over the sustainability of this high value commodity has emerged in the past decade as BSC catches have been reportedly decreasing in volumes and sizes. In addition, years of irresponsible fishing and marine resources utilizations, such as the use of harmful fishing gears, non-selective fishing (including catching of small crabs and egg bearing female crabs), lack of compliance to regulations (including fish catch reporting), marine and inland pollutions: chemical and plastic debris have further deteriorated BSC habitat especially its spawning and nursery grounds and depleted its stock.

BSC resources sustainability and habitat restoration are treated as Indonesia’s top priority. Addressing the multi-faceted challenges with limited resources requires well-targeted interventions with active involvement of BSC fisheries actors: government, academia, international and national non-governmental organizations, the media and community groups from planning to implementation and monitoring-evaluation phases.

Together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) works to strengthen efforts to promote evidence-based, sustainable fisheries management under the four-year Indonesian Seas Large Marine Ecocystem (ISLME) project with funding assistance from the Global Environment Facility

ISLME-supported area in blue

“BSC intervention is conducted in Fisheries Management Area 712 (north Java Sea) as it has the country’s highest BSC production and where the majority of fisheries processing units are located. The best will then be replicated to other FMAs in Indonesia,” explained ISLME National Program Officer Mr. Muhammad Lukman.

Decisions making process to formulate BSC policies and field activities is guided by research findings and recommendations and all phases are conducted in close consultation/involvement of BSC stakeholders to incorporate field analysis and recommendations for proper implementation.

The Harvest Strategy (HS), issued in March 2020, details BSC fisheries status, BSC utilizations policies and evaluation of the BSC fisheries management. The status of BSC is determined by the Spawning Potential Ratio (SPR) with 20 percent as the reference limit. In 2018, the SPR is at 21 percent meaning it is fully exploited heading to over exploited. The HS policy aims to increase SPR to at least 30 percent and to increase the percentage of BSC catch with carapace width of at least 10 cm (minimum legal size) to 90 percent. To protect BSC resources, the policy also determines the allowable level of efforts and the numbers of BSC boats; as well as bans the capture of female crabs with eggs. For improved monitoring, it states the need to ensure catch reporting, data collection using control document, increase the capacity of community watch group (Pokmaswas) and sea patrol, among others.

The HS policy is then translated into concrete field activities where the MMAF, together with the provincial and district level administrations and in consultation with the stakeholder, further intensifies efforts for responsible fishing in line with national Measured Fisheries program to address the identified challenges.

The Ministry promotes and encourages small fishers to obtain necessary permits by facilitating permit issuance with simplified procedures, including boat registration and inspection as well as fishing gear registration. For availability of accurate, real time data, an e-logbook application was developed and enhanced for ease of use to facilitate catch reporting and data collection especially among the small fishers. The MMAF also actively raises awareness on the importance of BSC policies and regulations among small fishers to promote adherence to the regulations and how and where to get further information and assistance.

The HS policy and program activities were designed based on the findings of a recent ecosystem approach to BSC fisheries (EAFM) assessment in FMA 712 as the key BSC producing area. The assessment reviewed the the latest BSC status in FMA 712, to identify and map BSC related issues and challenges, including ecosystem, habitat and resources, impact of fishing technology, socio-economic dynamics and governance in BSC fisheries. The findings grouped the FMA 712 into the restoration category since most of the EAFM domain requires a systematic and comprehensive measure for improvements to change its status from bad to moderate.

“This is a huge multisectoral effort that requires compliance of small fishers, close collaboration of all fisheries actors to close the gaps in program activities and resources as well as availability of quality data and evidence for policy analysis,” explained Mr. Fery Sutiawan from MMAF Directorate of Fish Resources Management.

Thorough research is much-needed to properly evaluate the most recent stock status, the effectiveness of existing policies and impacts of program activities as well as to guide future efforts. “It allows adaptive fisheries management, including to design new initiatives, when needed, to respond to the latest findings. The aim is to protect the stock, the habitat, the livelihood of fisher and coastal communities as well as the economic potential of BSC fisheries,” he added.

ISLME Regional Coordinator Mr. C.M. Muralidharan explained that best practices and lessons learned from BSC fisheries in Indonesia, especially on stakeholder involvement in data collection and decision making process are valuable to inform and hopefully can inspire policy makers in the fisheries sector across Indonesia and in other countries.

For more information on this project, please contact Mr. C.M Muraldharan or visit the project profile at iwlearn.net: https://iwlearn.net/iw-projects/5768