Indonesia is the world's biggest producer of tuna, but over the last few years, its fisheries have long been plagued by incredibly destructive fishing practices.
To resolve this, Indonesia has decided to push for a national harvesting strategy for their world-leading tropical tuna fishery in the hopes of protecting the country's wild stock.
Indonesia's annual tuna catch is the biggest of any country. In 2018, the government applied an interim harvest strategy that consisted of various harvest control rules in its three fishery management areas.
However, the country's fisheries ministry stated recently that having a specific nationwide harvest strategy would be critical for protecting the country's wild stock.
The tuna harvest strategy will also help the government's ongoing push to achieve a sustainability certification for its fisheries and even open them to the growing global demand for eco-labeled seafood.
"Formalizing a harvest strategy is one way to show progress towards a sustainability certification, and therefore these two concepts are closely linked," says Peter Mous, director of the sustainable fisheries program in Bali.
