Seen as the world’s country with the highest tuna potential, Indonesia’s annual tuna production total in 2012 was 613,557 tons according to the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. Being positioned between the world’s two key tuna-producing oceans, the Indian and Pacific Ocean has allowed its production to reach an annual income of millions of dollars. The country has become important for the global tuna market, both in terms of resource and trade.
But Sharif C. Sutardjo of the Ministry says that the tuna industry is facing many challenges currently. These challenges include a reduction of productivity, shrinkage in size and the difficulty of tracking tuna population on the high seas.
FAO data shows that the country hit a huge peak with tuna catch in 2011, reaching nearly one million tons. Figures reported by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries for 2012, however, show that landings have returned in line with volumes recorded in 2010, hovering just above 600,000 tons.
The huge fluctuations in the numbers and their enormous totals have many people in the industry wonder how serious such information on Indonesian catches should be taken, and how any resource effective management can take place if no reliable data is available. The tuna claims to have huge tuna resources and catches, but definitely has a very limited overview over its waters, which contains 17,508 islands and covers around 6 million square kilometers.
Sutardjo states that in the whole Indonesian Fishery Management Zone, the status of exploitation on albacore, yellowfin, bigeye and bluefin tuna is in a state to cause concern and is either fully exploited or over exploited. Skipjack is the only tuna that remains at a moderate status according to Sutardjo. He stresses that this negative trend will eventually impact the livelihood of fishermen and the tuna industry. It is believed that cooperation with Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) is needed.
Research and monitoring by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries is now taking place over 16 tuna processing companies based in Benoa Port in Indonesia in order for the country’s industry to get to know more about its resources. Only when Indonesia is able to provide reliable scientific data to the RFMO’s, these RFMO’s can take effective measures.