(IntraFish) Indonesia is to host a workshop this week that will assess the economic and social benefits of supporting the country’s pole-and-line tuna fishery.
Indonesia has always been a pole-and-line tuna producing country, but interest in this traditional catching method decreased over the last decade in favor of purse seine fishing, as larger volumes of fish are caught using the latter method.
While pole-and-line fishing is still widely practiced in Indonesia, the country’s fishing industry does not distinguish between pole-and-line and purse seine tuna. As a result, it is believed a large proportion of pole-and-line tuna ends up being sold as purse seine.
However, the growing international demand for pole-and-line tuna could turn things around for Indonesia’s fishery, coastal communities and the country’s overall economy.
The ‘Pole and Line and Handline Tuna Development in Eastern Indonesia Business Forum’, being held Sept. 3 and 4, is organized by Indonesia’s Ministry for Regional Development (KPDT), the Ministry of Fisheries and the International Pole & Line Foundation (IPNLF).
The commercial fishing industry along with tuna brands and retailers have been invited to join this important meeting, which will also be attended by Indonesia’s Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Economics, Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, Ministry of Public Works and the relevant port authorities.
“Pole-and-line fishing is the most environmentally and socially desirable method of catching tuna," said Rusnadi Padjung, deputy assistant for Investment, KPDT. "It requires minimal investment, which is appropriate for Indonesia’s poor coastal communities, and it requires more fishermen than other catching methods.”
Fisheries generate between 4 and 5 percent of Indonesia’s gross domestic product and provide employment for 6 to 7 percent of the national workforce. Capture fisheries account for approximately half of these figures.