Introducing our third beta trial fishery – Maumere Fishery in Indonesia
To maximise exploring the efficacy of the Community Catch standard in a variety of fisheries, we have trials going on in fisheries of different sizes, gear usage, target species etc. In this instance, we are exploring how well a fishery, which is already MSC certified, does in the Community Catch program and whether there are advantages for the fishery.
The fishery is expansive, targeting yellowfin and skipjack within archipelagic waters using pole and line and handline gears, though the assessment is currently only focused on the Pole and line portion of the fishery.
One of the main barriers the fishery faces is that there is no shipping route for direct export from Maumere. Instead, exports usually transit Surabaya to replace 400 feet containers, making logistic costs far higher. When asked if Community Catch would be able to offer the fishery new or better opportunities they said “Yes if market demands it in the future, it might be more accessible for small scale fisheries.”
Maumere fishery aspires for recognized quality and better price with regards to market access. So we asked them why they are engaging with Community Catch, to which they said “Because it might be a good alternative ecolabel for SSF’s; more affordable and covers more aspects than just environmental sustainability.”
When asked about their first impressions of Community Catch, they responded noticing a change from last year’s alpha trials and noted ‘more questions and more details… but it’s in a good way that captures more info on the fishery itself and the fisher’.
The Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) SCS global is working with Community Catch on this fishery. The team has just started to dig into the self-assessment evaluation. Stay tuned for updates on this trial fishery, and keep an eye out for our next fishery profile.