Indonesian Pole & Line Association launches “one-by-one” tuna brand

The Indonesian Pole & Line and Handline Fisheries Association (AP2HI), along with the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, celebrated the launch of a new Indonesian “one-by-one” tuna brand on 18 March during Seafood Expo North America 2019.

The new brand – which has the combined efforts of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF) behind it – is intended to highlight the sustainably-caught product coming from Indonesia. The country is has seen a rapid uptick of exports of tuna, with the total 2017 export value reaching USD 452 million (EUR 398 million).

“We know that from our statistics, our tuna volume export last year to the United States ... increased significantly, more than 22 percent,” Consulate General of Indonesia Abdul Kadir Jailani said during the launch party for the brand. “This figure shows the potential of Indonesian tuna exports after all the fisheries policy reform conducted in Indonesia in the last four years.”

Indonesia’s tuna fishery has long been a pole-and-line fishery, with small-scale artisanal fishermen using practices that were, for the most part, sustainable, according to AP2HI. However, the product was never distinguished on its own. Efforts began in 2013 to change that, with the government at the time working to align with international sustainability standards. 

Today, those efforts have been paying off. Multiple parts of the handline fishery have pursued Marine Stewardship Council certification, with Anova seafood announcing its pursuit of MSC certification last month. 

While the fishery has made progress, it is by no means perfect, and the country is still making efforts to improve the fishery by using a sustainability brand to increase market value, Jailani said.

“I believe that the market plays a pivotal role in this matter, considering higher profit is the main reason behind unsustainable fishing practices,” he said. “Indonesia is committed to developing this industry in a sustainable way, with sustainable fishing practice.”

Sustainable fishing practice is nothing new for a large part of Indonesia, as many of the traditional fisheries were using small-scale, pole-and-line or hand-line methods with minimal bycatch, Jailani said. But he said  that fact was not fully emphasized by fishermen or companies in the country in their marketing or promotional materials.

“The sustainably-caught tuna from Indonesia was hardly marketed as such,” said Alfons van Duijvenbode, founding partner of Globally Cool, a company specializing in international marketing, strategy, branding, and market intelligence. 

Marketing the sustainability of Indonesia’s tuna is the drive behind the one-by-one tuna brand, which has been given the aid of UNIDO and IPNLF in its push to promote the sustainability of the fishery. Building a more recognizable brand for sustainable, pole-and-line caught fish will benefit the thousands of fishermen that fish that way, and have fished that way for decades.

“We want the world to know that we have a great supply of sustainably caught tuna,” AP2HI Chairwoman Janti Djuari said. “That’s why we are excited to launch our Indonesian one-by-one tuna brand.”

Over 30 members of AP2HI have already committed to promoting the sustainable nature of the fishery through the one-by-one tuna brand, according to Djuari. 

“Indonesia is one of the local leaders of one-by-one tuna fishing, something that not everybody is aware of,” Djuari said. “But starting today, we want to change that.”