Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Yes, welcome back to the Sea Morning Show, still with us on sea today for our
00:04 second talk show of the morning. And today we commemorate May the 2nd which
00:09 is World Tuna Day. Now it is an observance aiming to raise awareness
00:13 about the importance of conservation management to ensure that we have
00:18 systems in place to prevent tuna stocks from crashing. World Tuna Day has been
00:25 described as an opportunity to raise awareness about the pressing issue of
00:30 overfishing and the need for international cooperation to address
00:34 this global problem. It also serves as a reminder of the importance of
00:38 sustainable fisheries management practices and the need to reduce by
00:43 catch and incidental catches of unwanted species. This year's theme is advancing
00:49 blue transformation, sustainable development and innovation through the
00:54 global tuna industry. The event aims to celebrate vital oceanic creatures and
01:00 urge sustainable fishing to safeguard tuna and marine life. And as reported by
01:05 the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Indonesia's tuna production
01:10 share has reached 15% or approximately 360,000 tons per year. This number makes
01:17 Indonesia the world's largest tuna producer, above the Philippines at 7.3%
01:22 and Vietnam at 6.6% and Ecuador at 6.1%. The dominant tuna species
01:29 producer here includes skipjacks and yellow fins.
01:34 And since today is World Tuna Day, we're going to talk more about sustaining this
01:46 vital marine resource with Indonesia Tuna Consortium strategic lead Thilma
01:51 Komali, as well as Harta Samudra director and Indonesian pole and line
01:56 and handline fishing association vice chairman Robert Jowanda. Good morning you
02:01 guys. Good morning. Thank you for being here. Alright so let's start with Matilma. Yes.
02:06 Welcome to the program and happy World Tuna Day. Happy World Tuna Day. So the 2024
02:11 World Tuna Day theme this year is advancing blue transformation, sustainable
02:15 development and innovation through the global tuna industry. Now can you
02:20 elaborate a little bit on tuna conservation these days? Right. Thank you
02:24 so much Paul for the, you know, the openings and also a bit to give context
02:30 on World Tuna Day. Just to give you a couple of overview, I think tuna, as
02:36 you mentioned already, that in the data Indonesia produced around 12 million, 12
02:43 million tons like almost per year. So it's abundance resources that we have
02:49 but then we have like, we also have, because this is like a high migratory
02:55 species, so it is not only Indonesia who actually manage the whole the species.
03:00 Because it's kind of like, it needs also the regional cooperation. So Indonesia is
03:06 part of the, at least we have three RFMO, regional fisheries management office. One
03:11 is Indian Ocean and the second is on the WSPC. This is on the Asia-Pacific
03:17 and second is on the Inter-American. So like on the, also on the transaction or
03:23 the, you know, the market for America. So of that case, conservation for
03:30 Indonesia is vital because we have in one of the area of FMA, fishery management
03:37 areas in Indonesia, is the spawning ground of tuna. That means, I think
03:43 Parobot knows like exact details. It can be like one of six tuna that's
03:49 fishing in around the world is from Indonesia. So that's how vital it is.
03:54 And so in terms of conservation, we have already developed and I can report you
04:01 by, you know, proudly. Last year we worked with the government of Indonesia on the
04:07 Fish Resources Debt Directorate to launch the, I should say, it's like the
04:12 sustainable document, protocol document. It's called Harvest Strategy and all of
04:18 the, it is adopted with two, like a couple of countries working together for
04:25 management to, you know, to manage this. And these are our neighbors basically.
04:29 Yes, our neighbors. And then this Harvest Strategy is specifically the one that
04:34 Tuna Consortium is working is on the spawning ground area, which is in the
04:39 eastern part. If you know that the abundance is coming from there, and
04:42 that's also where Parobot also come in place. So the conservation is now
04:48 going on in terms of the policy-based. And then it has been launched last year.
04:54 And this year is like the real deal, you know. It's like the, yes, yes. And
04:58 this area, within this area, we call it Indonesian Archipelago Quarters. In
05:03 this area we have 18 provinces. And with this vast, you know, this wide areas of
05:10 management, so there's a lot of coordination needed. And it's not only
05:15 the coordination, we also need the demand of it. That's why then we are here to, like,
05:21 open an awareness for Indonesians to eat more tuna, domestic, local tuna.
05:27 I'm doing my part. And then we are going to also explain a bit on the certification
05:35 part. So when you taste the tuna, I'm hoping that you can also taste the
05:39 sustainable, sustainability in the tuna. Because 90% of the fishers in Indonesia
05:46 is actually small scale. So you see the social impact on this work. So it's not
05:51 only the food, but it's also like the, you know, the ecology part. Yes.
05:58 Wow, Thimma. And so you mentioned the importance and how vital it is to keep
06:02 the tuna conservation. And one of six tuna, globally, actually swims in
06:07 Indonesia. I did not know that. That's very interesting. From Indonesia.
06:11 Yeah. And so with such a huge number, how significant, and I'll ask Robert this,
06:17 how significant is the potential production of tuna domestically, but as
06:21 well as internationally? And which regions are major production centers?
06:26 Thank you. We are very lucky that Indonesia are in the strategic location.
06:32 Our ocean is very healthy. And Indonesia, everywhere we have tuna. And from the
06:37 west, central, and the east. But for us, we are focusing on the east side of
06:43 Indonesia, especially on Maluku and North Maluku. We like to go near to the
06:49 source, so we get more fresh and better quality of the tuna. So currently we have
06:54 four factory, all we build in the small islands. So we can get very close to the
06:59 fishermen. We work with the local community, small-scale fishermen.
07:04 Their boat is not big. One boat, one man, one hook to catch one fish. So it's a very
07:11 traditional way. So we have a good story. We're not only selling tuna
07:17 as a protein, but we're also selling the story behind it. Right, storytelling. Yes, it is.
07:21 What is the production process actually like? Could you take us through it, Robert,
07:26 in the waters? Yes, so because the fishing ground is very near, the fishermen
07:33 using only small boat, one boat, one man. They go in the early morning, come back
07:38 in the same day. So it's a one-day fishing trip. We get very fresh quality of the
07:41 fish. And the fish bring to our factory. We clean the fish, process the fish.
07:47 We're freezing the fish for the frozen product, then we export the product. And
07:53 we cut into more small portion for people to easily consume. Like now
07:58 people, most people didn't know how to clean the fish, correct? It's easier for
08:02 them to just open the bag and cook the fish. So now we have this kind of product
08:07 in the local market here in domestic Indonesia for people that want to eat
08:12 healthy food but doesn't have enough time to prepare it. This product is easy
08:17 and fast too. Okay, this explains why, because I used to, for years, for years I
08:22 was eating always salmon. There's always salmon. Right. But only the last few years,
08:25 my wife loved tuna and she put me on to tuna. And now I prefer tuna. Only because,
08:30 and now I understand why. It just seems more fresh all the time. And I guess
08:34 that's the reason why, because we're so close to it. Yeah. It can immediately go from
08:37 the waters literally to our table in a much shorter time. Right. So moving on
08:42 back to Matilma, according to the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries,
08:45 Indonesia's production actually accounts, we mentioned, 15% of the global total. So
08:51 how significant and vital is tuna production for the sustainability of our
08:55 so-called blue economy? Right. Okay, I think for also having worked with the
09:01 government for almost, I think, almost two years now, we understand the complexity
09:07 of the issues. So it's not only on the production, it's not only on the
09:11 fishering, on the fishing part, but it's also on the management. So first, if you
09:16 see like the flow, first on the fishing part, you need to empower and you need to
09:20 give some sort of education for like navigation, for instance, for the
09:25 fishers. So how they can be more efficient. Yes, efficient. And also that
09:29 also includes the patrol and also their financial management, that's
09:35 also one of the things that we cover in the program, giving a couple of, you know,
09:40 understanding and also education for the fisheries community on, you know, manage
09:46 their finance. Because this is a business. Yeah. And like what Robert said, it's also,
09:50 it's not only as a business, it's also like a tradition. So that means
09:55 like it's very complex in the social part. And then on the fishery management
09:59 side, because we need to comply, Indonesia need to comply on the regulation of the
10:03 on the regional fishery management office. That means tuna doesn't
10:09 make only the highly migratory species, also highly political species. Of course.
10:13 Right? So that is on the, you know, cooperation, inter-country
10:19 cooperation. And then there will be also the promotion side. So it's like, it's
10:24 like a 360 issue. And then this harvest strategy document, it's not only
10:30 covering the ecology and also the biological data, and it's also covered
10:35 now we're working towards on the socio-economic part. So we need to make
10:40 sure, say then we have like a, you know, an area, close area for only for
10:47 spawning. That means there's an impact for the fishers. What do they have to do?
10:52 Like any alternative livelihood they have to do? So helping the government of
10:56 kind of rolling out, mapping out all this, you know, the details of the issue is one
11:01 of our main, say, main role. Then I think for the production itself, just seeing
11:08 there's a missing link here. We are basically sitting on the highest
11:12 protein source. Goldmine, if you will. Yes, in Indonesia. And then we have, we still
11:19 have numbers of stunting. Right. You know, so that's now then we are advocating the
11:25 people of Indonesia to eat more tuna. Because as you say, when we have salmon
11:29 then it's coming from Europe. Correct. Yeah. So like the whole economic benefits goes
11:34 to Europe. Yeah, and more global emissions. Yes. And how easy can you get
11:39 salmon than tuna, right? So we need to make sure that we basically, not only
11:45 produce, but also we consume tuna for our own production. Indonesia is a
11:50 very big market. And we want to make sure that we take benefits of it. Not just to
11:56 kind of make a market out of other countries. Absolutely. A hundred grams of
12:01 skipjack tuna alone contains 28 grams of protein, guys. I'm a big protein guy. So
12:06 there you go. I'm just letting you know. It's a good choice. And Toma, you know, you
12:11 mentioned Indonesia is indeed the biggest producer actually for tuna in
12:16 the world. But we're also followed by the Philippines with a production share of
12:21 7.3 percent. Vietnam with 6.6 percent. And Ecuador with 6.1. But Indonesia still
12:27 ranks just sixth in this though. Is there still a stiff global competition in your
12:33 opinion? Yes, that's right. Also one of the things, I can speak on the, like on the,
12:38 you know, on the source side. And then I think Robert can explain on the market
12:44 side. But in terms of the, if you see, like you definitely read on the
12:50 news, like this, you know, this big tuna can say like $1,000 in Japan. Because
12:59 they know how to manage it. Like the fishers know. They have this education.
13:04 They have the standards. We, I think the ministry has been trying to do like the
13:09 education of the standards. But then it's not, it's not, you know, the compliance
13:15 rate is really low. Right. Because they have, they are really small scale fisheries.
13:19 So the whole infrastructure needs to be there. You know, the cold storage needs to
13:23 be there. And also not only the knowledge, it's also making sure that the tuna, the
13:28 fresh tuna coming out from the water can be preserved. The quality can be preserved
13:32 until to the table. So that is like, I think, one of the reasoning that we need
13:39 to also comply on the standards, international standards, to get into the
13:43 international market. And how about you, Robert, in regards to this situation where,
13:48 how we could actually improve our ranking in regards to exports? What can we do?
13:57 Yes. Currently, Indonesia mostly they export the raw material product, whole fish,
14:06 not the process or added value. Mostly. That's one of the reason with the added
14:12 value product, with the certified product, you can have a better demand, better
14:17 selling price also, higher price of course. When we're talking like certified
14:20 products, this would be an example of some of them, right? Correct? Yes, it is.
14:25 So tell us a little bit more in regards to the certification. We know that it's
14:29 inevitable when it comes to production. How can certification impact the economy,
14:33 especially in tuna production? With the certification product, we can ensure that
14:38 our product, fish, tuna is come from the responsible sourcing. Okay. And make sure
14:44 there's a low impact on the environmental. And also we make sure the population of
14:50 the tuna also secure for the long term, future generation of our fishing. By doing
14:56 that also, we can make sure that secure the job of our fishermen. And also we make
15:03 sure that everything we do is safe and sustainable for the future. Right. So it's
15:10 social and environmental impact. Absolutely. On that note, World Tuna Day,
15:15 we had Hardik Nas earlier. Today is World Tuna Day as well. From both of you, what
15:19 are your hopes in the future for the tuna industry? I'll start with Robert, perhaps.
15:23 I hope other industry also start think to go to the certification product because
15:31 current trend is more people interest on the sustainable product. They care about
15:38 what happened in the future for the next generation. And now in Indonesia is
15:45 available this product. This is the first one in the domestic market with the eco-level
15:50 MSC certified product. By buying this tuna product, you can also support, protect our
15:57 ocean and help the local community fishermen in Indonesia. Okay, well said. How about you,
16:01 Matilda? Well, I think it's quite clear. Just eat more tuna. And then please protect
16:09 the ecosystem of tuna. And do not trash your garbage out to the ocean because that's
16:15 where our food coming from. That's right. So yeah. Okay. Well said. Thank you. Thank you so
16:20 much, Thelma. Thank you, Robert, for that very insightful talk and discussion. And happy World
16:25 Tuna Day. All right, folks. And on that note, we'll be taking a break. But right after,
16:31 we will have more updates and insights just for you. Don't go anywhere just yet. Stay with us.
16:45 [Music]