Looking Ahead in 2022

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.

Poster distributed to APRI suppliers warning them not to mix different crab species “what types of crab are allowed and not allowed.” The NFI Crab Council (NFI-CC) responded by hiring a fisheries expert from a reputable academic institution, noting that most BSC imported into the US from Indonesia was part of their fisheries improvement project (FIP) and that IUU levels were inflated. But since the FIP evidence is from a plan without means of proof of sustainability; only a third-party certified system such as the MSC can independently verify the traceability of imports and a lack of IUU in the product. In addition, the BSC FIP progress across Southeast Asia lags considerably behind many other global FIPs and the APRI FIP is 15 years old, one of the world’s oldest FIPs, but has not been able to achieve certification, even though other fisheries in Indonesia with much younger FIPs have already achieved the third-party verified certification7. Despite limited progress over 15 years, the FIP continues to receive an ‘A’ rating from the Fisheryprogress.org rating system but without full certification, this needs to be more carefully analyzed and verified.

The NFI-CC review found that the ITC had used a trade lens to assess the level impact of value and fisheries. As the fishery expert suggested, a more appropriate lens considers the health and sustainability of the populations and the communities dependent on them. Given the concerns around methodology, the estimate of 22.8% is in question. Under Indonesian law, it is illegal to capture and keep gravid female and undersized crabs (<10 cm). Indicator I captures results from the independent audits of mini-plants on how well they are deterring this illegal crab from entering the supply chain and the 2021 results show 61% to 65% compliance with IUU fishing regulations. This means that 35%-39% of crab supply is potentially comprised of IUU crabs, which strongly suggests the ITC estimate of 22.8% IUU crabs entering the US is quite low.

A rarely discussed but typical food safety and labeling problem is the unintentional inclusion of species that are not Portunus pelagicus in picked crab meat. It seems that bycatch species such as Myomeippe hardwicki, Charybdis affinis, and Charybdis natator are accidentally (or purposely) mixed, sometimes in large portions, into the meat, mainly when there is high demand for crab meat (as seen in late 2020 and 2021). The Indonesian government cannot check all exports, but APRI is working hard to disseminate the information about the species allowed. Still, as prices rise, mixing remains. A combination of a clear guidance control document and DNA checking is urgently needed to minimize this practice.

A secondary problem for labeling arises when frozen crab imported from the Mediterranean, Bahrain, Oman, and Tunisia is picked, processed, and sold as a product of Indonesia. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is cracking down on US crab importers engaged in seafood fraud, specifically, mislabeling imported crab meat as ‘Product of USA’.8,9,10 The raw product must be traceable back to its source in all food products.

While NFI-CC and APRI have made progress on their FIP, there remains an opportunity to engage the US food service industries and consumers about where their food comes from, the catching methods, and ensuring working conditions and wages are in line with international standards. Organizations like the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI), Seafood Watch, and the SFP are well positioned to guide these sectors that remain beyond the controls of the NFI-CC supply chain.

Blue swimming crab for sale. Source: Adobe Stock

An effort to assist in the design of an external business plan for APRI supported by several donors was largely unsuccessful. The business planning envisioned supporting APRI with a sustainable business model and opportunities to become financially independent. Despite considerable resources, field trips, and interviews, a first and second draft shared with APRI received no response. A copy of the business plan is available and still needs to be vetted and ultimately approved by APRI, if APRI is serious about improving its business operation and sources of support.

APRI continues its drive for MSC certification and, in 2021, received a grant from MSC Indonesia to support its FIP work. But because MSC did not consider all the work already in progress on the fishery by Consortium members, APRI continued its work in consortium sites on its own. Based on a pre-assessment funded by MSC, certification for blue swimming crab remains difficult under the current policy framework (lack of harvest control rules) and with the stocks of the Java Sea overfished. More work on improving fishing gears’ selectivity and monitoring ETP species and transparent data sharing to allow stakeholder involvement in the data collection, validation, and decision-making is necessary. A risk assessment, enforcement, and compliance strategy are required to achieve certification benchmarks.

The recent passage of the COMPETES Act (HR 4521) in the US lower house and the potential inclusion of the seafood importation to cover all species that enter US ports will eventually lead to a focus on issues around Indonesian crab. Interestingly, if passed, COMPETES also includes provisions to ensure that human and labor rights are adhered to down the fishery’s supply chain, which adds a vitally essential, yet primarily overlooked aspect, to the current trade practices11 .

National Governance

In 2021, BSC RPP (Five-Year Management Plan 2021-2026) was revised through the facilitation of the MMAF, in partnership with FAO (under its Large Marine Ecosystem program), the United Nations Development Programme, and Consortium members. The revision included new sections on the province’s role, harvest strategy, data and information collection, and monitoring control and surveillance. These changes will bolster management potential significantly, but the plan remains a draft at the legal office of MMAF.

The blue swimming crab interim harvest strategy published in 2020 remains without harvest control rules. Harvest control rules are pre-identified management responses that trigger when the stock reaches its lower stock limits (20% SPR) or reduce when target reference points are achieved (30% SPR). In 2022, MMAF is planning to pilot test harvest strategies in the Javanese villages of Rembang, Pamekasan and Konawe Selatan. As the blue swimming crab life cycle is, for the most part, within provincial-water jurisdiction, harvest control rules offer an opportunity to engage provincial, district, village institutions, industry, CSO partners, and the voice of fishers to design appropriate management interventions. Harvest control rules need to look into gear restrictions and temporal/ permanent closures of critical spawning and juvenile grounds. Gear restrictions are likely to include the need for crab pots with escape gaps, and larger mesh size gillnets to work hand-in-hand with the ban on cantrang (Danish seine/trawls). A harvest strategy fully implemented in tandem with size limits, the ban on harvesting gravid females, and enforcement of the control document would transform the fishery towards long-term sustainability.

Managers continue to identify the lack of licensing and registration of fishers as a significant impediment to management success. Without a license, fishers and new entrants to the fishery are free to fish anywhere and catch anything without any perceived limits12 . Registration and licensing clarify that there are responsibilities and accountability. Registration also gives managers the additional benefit of interacting with fishers regularly and access to up-to-date information on the numbers of fishers, their gears, and boats, which is a significant data gap across the whole country and severely limit the sustainable management of fisheries that mostly occur within provincial waters such as the BSC fishery.

The biological rationale for the BSC legal size limit of 100 mm remains unclear. Scientific literature and experience in other countries (such as Sri Lanka) support the rationale for a more biologically appropriate size limit of up to 115 mm. An increased size limit would lead to a short period of reduced catch, but with the blue swimming crab’s fast growth and regeneration capacity, the fishery would recover, reaping long-term benefits for all stakeholders.

Despite the considerable efforts of SFP, NFI-Crab Council, and APRI to implement the control document to track compliance with the Minister of Marine Affairs Fisheries Regulation No 12/PERMEN-KP/2020 (minimum size of crab and gravid females), the scheme has not taken hold. As far back as 2016, in its Regional FIP workshops and council meetings, the NFI-CC has cited its adoption and support of the Control Document system to prove their assertion that they are working towards sustainability. The control document is not yet functioning, and sustainability assertations are unsubstantiated. For the system to work, there is a need for third-party auditors to conduct independent and unplanned assessments regularly, the results of which are published in a transparent manner.

Since the formation of the Consortium, an assumption was that the WPP 712 Management Council would form. In theory, this council would provide a critical interface between stakeholders, scientists, and managers of the Java Sea. In the absence of a functional council body, a viable alternative may well be to support a community of practice that brings together managers, politicians, fishers, and scientists for an annual or bi-annual event to showcase and share management success and learning.

MMAF recently announced the Kampung Nelayan Maju and identified 120 fishing villages to support socio-economic development across the country. This program would be an ideal fit for some of the Consortium member’s villages. The program provides socio-economic support, which would likely bolster and encourage fishers to engage in more aggressive management that could ultimately improve their rights and responsibilities. MMAF DG of Surveillance support for provincial-level task forces and village-level pokmaswas (community-based surveillance organizations) would strengthen enforcement capacity.

Local Governance

When the BSC work began, provinces and villages lacked the needed infrastructure, systems, capacity, guidance, and resources to manage their coastal waters. Consortium members continue building and establishing learning by doing approaches in partnership with local institutional partners (some built from scratch). Local institutions have continued to grow, despite the significant impacts of COvID-19 that limited travel and interactions. The Lampung Provincial KPPRB is an exemplary example of a provincial body that continues to grow as it supports the blue swimming crab fishery bodies created at the village and district organizations. Indicator E (local stakeholder engagement) has seen substantial gains over the last three years. The Consortium partners’ investments in local NGOs (e.g., the Lampung-based Mitra Bintala and the University of Lampung) with community organizers based in the villages and surrounding areas have undoubtedly contributed, as well as the COvID-19-induced shift to the use of social media and multiplatform messaging apps.

In Lampung, a policy to ban andon (outside fishers) from fishing within 5 kilometers of the Lampung provincial waters is in place, which is a significant first; the implementation of the policy with enforcement support is the next critical step. In addition, 18 consultations with over 350 stakeholders have led to an agreement to expand the Way Kambas National Protected Area to include an additional 8,000 hectares of critical BSC habitat and juvenile grounds; this is awaiting final signatory from the MMAF. The Lampung site has established itself as a good BSC sentinel site for further research and exploration around gender, livelihoods, and climate change adaptation. Lampung has been exploring diversification of livelihoods and opportunities to enhance the value and use of wastes from the crab fishery. One issue that remains unresolved though is sand mining in areas that are critical juvenile and recruitment grounds of the crab. This issue highlights the need for integrated planning and management given that the BSC fishery exists in a complex coastal system of people and environment.

Progress has slowed in the village, district, and provincial-level organizations in Central and Eastern Java since APRI has begun focusing its work in villages suitable for their MSC certification aspirations. SFP has shifted its focus to co-management in these sites to ensure a sustained presence. Western Java recently approved its provincial BSC plan, and site implementation is beginning. SR has partnered with the Serikat Nelayan Indonesia (SNI, Indonesian fishers union) to develop and strengthen local fisher, women’s, and mini-plant/trader associations.