Seafood Savers has added another member company to realize sustainable fisheries in Indonesia: PT Mustika Minanusa Aurora (PT MMA), PT Hatindo Makmur, PT Satu Enam Delapan Benoa, and PT Samudera Eco Anugrah Indonesia (PT SEA Indonesia). The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Cooperation Agreement between the four new Seafood Savers members took place on June 4, 2015 in Jakarta.

Of these four companies, only PT MMA has previously been a candidate member of Seafood Savers, in 2014. After successfully fulfilling the recommendations given by WWF-Indonesia regarding the minimum requirements of responsible aquaculture, PT MMA finally joined Seafood Savers. PT MMA also became the first Seafood Savers member company to register its aquaculture commodity, tiger shrimp, in the fisheries improvement program towards achieving the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification under the assistance of WWF-Indonesia. This also marks the implementation of WWF-Indonesia's first aquaculture improvement project (AIP) through the Seafood Savers initiative.

Another company, PT SEA Indonesia, better known by its trademark Fish 'n Blues, as well as PT Hatindo Makmur and PT Satu Enam Delapan Benoa became Seafood Savers members immediately after meeting the minimum requirements. PT Hatindo Makmur and PT Satu Enam Delapan Benoa are sister companies. Both are engaged in fish processing and freezing, especially pelagic fish, and registered their yellowfin tuna commodities with Seafood Savers. Meanwhile, PT SEA Indonesia, which is a pioneer provider of seafood responsible for end consumers, supplies its seafood from fishermen groups and farmers assisted by a coalition of fisheries NGOs incorporated in JARING-Nusantara.

With the inclusion of these companies, Seafood Savers now has seven members and one candidate member committed to supporting sustainable fisheries practices in Indonesia. These seven members are expected to implement an improvement program with a maximum deadline of five years for each company. During this period, the improvement process will be regularly monitored once every six months. Monitoring activities are carried out by the Seafood Savers technical team by filling out the Improvement Program Monitoring Sheet. It is expected that after completing the improvement program, the company can meet the requirements to obtain ASC and MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) ecolabel certification as well as become a sustainable fisheries pioneer in Indonesia.

For more about Seafood Savers and its member companies visit http://www.seafoodsavers.org/ or follow its timeline at @seafoodsavers (Twitter), @seafoodsavers (Instagram), and Seafood Savers (Facebook page)

Author: Novita Eka Syaputri (Seafood Savers Communication Assistant)