Six Fish Species Need MSC Certificate To Enter Global Market

Nusa Dua (Antara Bali) - Six sea fish species need the certificate from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to be acceptable in the global market, an official said.

"There are six sea fish species including skipjack, big eye tuna, yellow fin tuna, small crab, the grouper and red tuna that we proposed to have the MSC certificate ," Fishery Marketing and Processing Director General Saut P Hutagalung said on the side lines of a World Fisheries Conference here on Tuesday.

Saut said the certificate is important those fish species are major export earners from the fishery sector.

Tuna fish and skipjack accounted for 18 percent of the country`s total earning of US$4.2 billion from the exports of fishery commodities in 2013, he said.

"The certification will at the same time contribute to the program of sustainability of the fishery sector. In addition, most importers always ask about the MSC certificate to ensure that sea fishing have been environmentally friendly," he said.

Until, now no Indonesian fishing company already has the MSC certificate, he said.

However, at the Nusa Dua conference there were five companies taking part in the certification program, including one from Bali, he said.

He said apart from being expensive, it is not easy to secure the certificate as the companies and their fishermen partners have to go through a tight process of testing.

It would be too expensive and difficult for the country`s six million small fishermen and small scale fish processing firms to go through the test, he said.

He said 90 percent of 560,000 units of fishing vessels operating in the country`s territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone are less than 30 gross tons in measure that certification would be too big a burden for them.

"In the first time we introduced the certification in 2008, many fishermen and fishing companies took to the street protesting. Currently there is growing awareness of the importance of certification. Even companies begin to ask their partners to join in the certification program," he said.

He is confident in the next one or two years, there would be Indonesian fishery companies holding the MSC certificate.

In order to bring to reality the program , the marine and fisheries ministry will encourage fishermen to take part in the program of certification, he said.

"We don`t want to rush as it is too costly for the companies and fishermen . Fortunately a number of companies and fishermen received a financial aid from Anova (suppliers of fisheries products to the European and US markets) and WWF (an international non governmental organization of environmentalists)," he said.

Despite the fact that no Indonesian fishery company and fisherman have MSC certificate, the global market still give Indonesia the market opportunity, he said.

"Obviously they see the consistency and commitment of Indonesian fishery companies in seeking to win the MSC certificate, although it is still in the process until now," he said.

In 2013, the country exported 660,000 tons worth US$750 million of skipjack and tuna fish and US$369 million worth of small crabs.

The main markets for skipjack and tuna fish are the European Union to which exports valued at US180.2 million, Japan to which exports were worth US$170.4 million and the United States to which exports were valued at US$113.8 million.

"The contribution of skipjack, tuna and small crabs is very significant that we include them in the certification program and at the same time to protect the image of the country`s fish products in the global market," Saut said.

As an international fishery ecolabel agency in developing nations, MSC wants to make sure that fishes entering the global market have been caught without damaging the environment. (WDY)