Indonesia Fit To Develop Its Tuna Potential

Jakarta, Feb. 18 (Antara) - Indonesia has immense tuna potential, with tuna production totaling 613,577 tons per year and netting an income worth Rp6.3 trillion. Strategically located between the world`s two key tuna-producing oceans, Indian and Pacific oceans, Indonesia is an important country for the world`s tuna market, both for resources and trade, Indonesian Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sharif C. Sutardjo noted in a statement here on Monday. The tuna industry is currently facing many challenges, such as a drop in production, shrinkage in tuna size, and the difficulties faced in tracking the tuna population on the high seas, the minister explained. The ministry has been promoting sustainable fisheries development to address these challenges. "The research activities run by the Benoa Tuna Fishery Research Institute (LP2T) is the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF)`s commitment to maiintain tuna sustainability in Indonesia as well as to meet the world`s demand for tuna," he added while visiting the research center in Mertasari, Bali, on Feb.15. Sharif remarked that the exploitation of albacore, yellow fin, bigeye, and blue fin tuna is extremely alarming, and only the population of skipjack tuna is still considered moderate. This negative trend will eventually affect the livelihood of the fishermen and the tuna industry. "Tuna sustainability is not the sole responsibility of one or two nations, but the entire world should partake in it. Therefore, the national tuna management will always be a priority of the RFMOs (Regional Fisheries Management Bodies), which has the mandate to regulate the global tuna management," Sutardjo asserted. Sharif explained that the Indonesian Government has become a member of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in order to maintain as well as to boost the tuna management globally. By joining the Commission, Indonesia is currently a member of three Regional Fishery Management Organizations: Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), Commission on Conservation of Southern Blue fin Tuna (CCSBT), and Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). "Indonesia is also subject to the international law in terms of high seas fishing activities, including the feasibility of the vessels and the conservation and management compliance," he re-affirmed. In the meantime, Head of the R&D at MMAF Achmad Poernomo remarked that monitoring of the total landings of tuna is conducted across 16 tuna processing companies based in the Benoa Port. The monitoring is daily run by the LP2T`s enumerators through collection of data and information of the haul and the activity aboard. The collected data and information is then delivered to the IOTC and CCSBT every year. "After joining the RFMO, Indonesia is allocated the tuna fishing quota, access to the international tuna market, especially the state members of any RFMO," Mr. Poernomo reported. The MMAF, along with the LP2T, regularly conducts the observation aboard the tuna longline boats in order to collect data and information related to the haul, size of the fish, the fishing zone, the temperature, and the fishing depths. Referring to the observation provided by the LP2T, the operating zone for longline boats encompasses Java, Bali, and Nusa Tenggara, both inside and outside the Exclusive Economic Zone. "By using this research, it is expected that the tuna fishermen will be able to take home a significant haul. They just need to set the fishing depths, and if it matches with the temperature and the optimum depths, they can figure out the kind of tuna they will catch," he emphasized. Poernomo added that the MMAF`s R&D division is currently conducting genetic research on the bigeye tuna. Research reveals that the bigeye tuna can be divided into two population groups: the group sourcing from the south Indian Ocean of Java and Nusa Tenggara and the second group coming from the west Indian Ocean of Sumatra. The first group reportedly comes from the Pacific Ocean, while the second group originates from the Indian Ocean. "According to the gonadal development research, the spawning season of the Indian Ocean`s bigeye tuna occurs throughout the year," he claimed. The Tuna Benoa Fishery Research Institute (LP2T) is a technical unit under the MMAF`s R&D division. The establishment of the LP2T was initiated in the Benoa Porta between Australia`s CSIRO and Marine Fishery Research Institute in 1993, to promote tuna research, particularly on the southern blue fish tuna (Thunnus maccoyii). The partnership was extended in 2002, by establishing the monitoring program through the multilateral partnership project (Australia, Japan, and IOTC) in three key tuna landing locations in Indonesia, which include the Fishing Port of Samudera Jakarta, National Fishery Port of Cilacap, and Benoa Port.