Seafood Savers is WWF-Indonesia initiative as bridging mechanism for the aquaculture and fisheries industry players to achieve sustainable fisheries

Seafood Savers welcomes new members

INDONESIA
Thursday, September 05, 2024, 00:10 (GMT + 9)

JAKARTA - Indonesia has various important aquaculture commodities, such as vannamei shrimp and seaweed, which are the mainstays of the fisheries sector. To improve the performance of fisheries production, the WWF Indonesia Foundation and Seafood Savers initiated the Aquaculture Improvement Program (AIP) to improve sustainable aquaculture practices.

Seafood Savers assists business actors in obtaining the internationally recognized Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) ecolabel certification for capture fisheries and Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) for aquaculture. Examples include the efforts made by PT SeaSae Solusi Indonesia and PT Winaros Kawula Bahari.

PT SeaSae Solusi Indonesia and PT Winaros Kawula Bahari are two new members of the Seafood Savers program. The two companies officially joined through the signing of a Cooperation Agreement (PKS) on Monday, August 26, 2024, at the WWF-Indonesia Office in Bali. To date, 13 companies have joined as Seafood Savers members, with 4 more companies in the registration process. The event was also accompanied by a symbolic handover of donations from Uluu, signifying a shared commitment to advancing sustainable fisheries practices in Indonesia.

WWF-Indonesia continues to support the implementation of sustainable fisheries practices in Indonesia through the Seafood Savers initiative. Established in 2009, Seafood Savers is a business-to-business relationship platform involving fishery producers, buyers, and financial institutions to jointly promote sustainable fisheries businesses and practices.

According to WWF-Indonesia Sustainable Fisheries Manager, Achmad Mustofa, Seafood Savers aims to bridge efforts towards sustainable fisheries, which are closely related to achieving ecolabel certification such as ASC. This program does not only focus on achieving certification, but how every business actor and those involved participate in maintaining and preserving the environment. "This will have a huge impact on the sustainability of fisheries businesses and the surrounding environment will remain sustainable. Most importantly, we are also committed to empowering local communities in every step taken," he explained.

Meanwhile, Director of PT SeaSae Solusi Indonesia, Bhima Aries Diyanto, said, hopefully this will be a beneficial start for his company as an industry, WWF-Indonesia, the community, and all parties involved. "We hope that the community will also increasingly understand how to manage their ponds sustainably. Hopefully this sustainable fishery can be a basic foundation for all of us in maintaining the sustainability of fishery resources," said Bhima in his speech.

PT SeaSae Solusi Indonesia, based in Sidoarjo, East Java, will contribute to this program with seaweed commodities. Meanwhile, PT Winaros Kawula Bahari, based in Pasuruan, East Java, will focus on vannamei shrimp commodities. Both companies are committed to carrying out aquaculture improvement activities in their supply chains in accordance with established standards.

Meanwhile, the Director of PT Winaros Kawula Bahari, Indra Budi Saputra, revealed that in the future, his party clearly needs guidance from the Seafood Savers and WWF-Indonesia teams, which has also started now. "This step is a manifestation of our commitment, not only to customers, but also to the social environment of the community around us," he said.

In an effort to achieve ASC certification, each company has a target to achieve. Based on the results of the internal gap assessment, the supply chain registered by PT SeaSae Solusi Indonesia meets the initial compliance of 25.47% of the ASC-MSC seaweed Standard requirements. Meanwhile, PT Winaros Kawula Bahari, which has a pond in Paiton, has so far met 26.06% of the ASC shrimp requirements. Therefore, both companies still have to go through a long process to meet 100% of the ASC requirements or towards environmentally and socially responsible aquaculture.

On the same occasion, a symbolic donation was also handed over from Uluu to WWF-Indonesia. "One of the world's main problems today is plastic waste, and we are trying to overcome it. We create an environmentally friendly and biodegradable plastic replacement material, namely an alternative plastic product made from seaweed," said Uluu's Co-CEO, Michael Kingsbury. In implementing this seaweed fishery improvement practice, Uluu contributes as a buyer of seaweed produced by PT SeaSae Solusi Indonesia.

The signing of this Cooperation Agreement is a real step in supporting sustainable fisheries efforts in Indonesia. With this collaboration, it is hoped that responsible fisheries practices can continue to develop, providing positive impacts for the environment, business actors, and the surrounding community

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