Fisheries-marine Stakeholder Consultation

Jakarta, Indonesia, 20 July 2023: Under the GEF-funded ISLME project, FAO and the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) organize wider fisheries-marine stakeholder consultation attended by at least 60 participants working in the ISLME region in a bid to sharpen the National Action Plan (NAP) to protect ISLME sustainability.

The meeting is part of the Strategic Action Programme (SAP) finalization process, a core document that lists concrete initiatives to address the five Primary Environment Concerns (PECs), identified in the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA). The five PECs are (i) Unsustainable Fishing & Aquaculture Practice, (ii) Degradation & Loss of Marine Habitats, (iii) Marine & Land-Based Pollution, (iv) Decline of Biodiversity & Key Species, (v) Responses to Climate Change Impact. Both TDA and SAP are ISLME core documents to guide future management.

The participants represented the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and its subnational offices and units, other related ministries, bilateral and UN agencies, international and national non-governmental organizations, academia and research centres, expert members of the National Scientific Advisory Group (NSAG) and TDA/SAP guide Dr. Rudolf Hermes, former Bay of Bengal LME Chief Technical Advisor.

“The threats affecting the ecosystem are real and the SAP will be broad enough for all stakeholders to contribute,” said FAO Representative Mr. Rajendra Aryal, adding that contributions from the participants are valuable and will make the discussion very rich.

MMAF Director of Fish Resources Management Dr. Ridwan Mulyana said biota, colony and ecosystems are all interconnected so sustainable management at national and transboundary level is crucial. “This (SAP-NAP) process is a very long, collaborative effort, involving key ISLME stakeholders to ensure comprehensive SAP/NAP development,” he explained.

The ISLME region is shared between Indonesia (98 percent) and Timor-Leste (2 percent). Timor-Leste had conducted its NAP process in end of June 2023. Prior to organizing this stakeholder consultation, the ISLME project had conducted a series of consultations with various MMAF Directorates to set key priorities to include in the NAP.

Laksmi Dhewanthi, Indonesia's Operational Focal Point to the Global Environment Facility and a Senior Advisor to the Minister of Environment and Forestry, expressed her appreciation to the progress in NAP-SAP process. She also stressed the need for integrated ecosystem management initiatives, for clear quantitative and qualitative indicators to measure achievements, for intersectoral wholistic approach to address the interconnection of each PECs and sound monitoring and evaluation to ensure attainment of the targets and milestones set for each specific period.

MMAF Coordinator for Inland Sea, Territorial and Archipelagic Waters Dr. Fery Sutyawan said the ISLME project has made good accomplishments, in collaboration with universities and research centres, including conducting Ecosystem-Approach to Fisheries Management and Aquaculture (EAFM-EAA) through pilot projects, the development of FMA- and commodities-specific Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs), formulation of Harvest Strategy and Harvest Control Rules for high economic value commodities: snapper, grouper, lobster, blue swimming crab and mud crab. He has high hope that the NAP and SAP will further contribute to the sustainable management of ISLME resources.

In the day long workshop, the stakeholders got to know of the Vision, Goal and objectives developed for the ISLME SAP. Then the participants critically analysed the national Action Plan points and provided valuable inputs to add, improve and revise on the action plan points from different relevant contextual perspectives.