18
BSC CONSORTIUM
Looking Ahead in 2022 Blue swimming crab catch. Source: Adobe Stock
Fishery Health Blue swimming crab is a robust and fecund crustacean; however, the SPR estimates for 2019 (baseline) and 2020 show that the longer-term health trend is slowly declining with fluctuations due to changing environmental and seasonal influences. This decline will continue until fishing effort restrictions are effectively in place. The increased export value of blue swimming crab recorded in 2020, amid a global pandemic suggests that supply is diminishing. Although we cannot yet share the SPR data for 2021, we expect stock health to continue its decline. In Lampung, the University of Lampung and Mitra Bintala have devised a simplified data collection form that integrates into the e-logbook system of MMAF. Local fisher associations are trained as enumerators to collect data in an app that integrtes with MMAF-SDI’s e-logbook and biological data forms. A transparent data collection, sharing, and analysis system is a significant building block for improved management. In the BSC 2020 report, there was a suggestion that the different fishing grounds had different sizes of maturity across the Java Sea. After a deeper analysis of the available data, it appears much more plausible that the excessive fishing pressure on the stocks over the last 15 years has reduced the size at maturity across the Java Sea. Excess fishing pressure on the stocks leads to the smaller maturing crabs dominating the spawning biomass, effectively termed “growth overfishing” as each new generation becomes smaller and smaller. This growth overfishing has a negative impact on the overall health of the crab population and at the same time means that livelihood dependent fishers will need to land more crabs to obtain the same value in weight for the market. Because the market value depends on weight (and thus size) of crabs landed, growth overfishing provides an incentive for fishers to land more crabs which further exacerbates overfishing.
There is a need for a stock rebuilding strategy for the Java Sea. Rebuilding does not suggest restocking that some groups are proposing (which remains scientifically unproven and expensive). However, stock rebuilding is achievable through the intentional restriction on fishing effort by limiting the size and number of gears targeting the crab fishery. This must be done in tandem with the enforcement of the size limits and the ban on harvesting gravid females for the stock to recover.
Fishery Economic and Industry Status Economic data shows that blue swimming crab remains a lucrative export commodity. In 2020, imports of BSC into the US (the primary market for BSC) were the highest in the last decade, despite the US food service sector being affected by the pandemic and US imports in general decreasing. In fact, by early 2021, it had become difficult for many buyers to source BSC in Indonesia, as prices and demand had rebounded to previous high levels above USD 70 per kg in the US and at least USD 20 per kg export price from Indonesia. With over 3,864 tons exported in 2021, Indonesian-based exports earned APRI and the handful of non-APRI exporters in excess of USD 77 million. In December 2019, the US Congress formally requested the US International Trade Commission (US ITC) to investigate how IUU products enter the United States. The US ITC concluded that IUU seafood makes up 11% of the seafood imported into the United States. Blue swimming crab from Indonesia accounted for over 40% of BSC imported into the US. The report identified Indonesian BSC as being up to 22.8% from IUU sources.
