Indonesian shrimp cooperative gets Fair Trade certification

Blueyou and Fair Trade USA have announced the first Fair Trade-certified aquaculture project in Indonesia, involving a group of small-scale shrimp farmers and a local processing facility.

Blueyou is a trading and service company doing business in sustainable seafood in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. It works as an exclusive market access partner for the distribution of Fair Trade-certified shrimp products.

According to Blueyou, a seafood consultancy based in Zurich, Switzerland, the project involves 324 shrimp farmers of a local cooperative and a processing facility run by aquaculture feed producer and shrimp exporter PT Central Proteina Prima Tbk (CP Prima) in Sumatra. The Fair Trade certification means they have been found to satisfy international standards of labor and human rights.

Farmers participating in the project expect to receive a premium of at least USD 0.15 (EUR 0.13) per kilogram of final products, which the cooperative’s members can decide how to use for community and environmental projects.

The project applied the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification methodology to the semi-intensive shrimp farming area of Wahyuni Mandira in South Sumatra. Farmers in the cooperative only use feed and shrimp larvae supplied by CP Prima have taken measures to ensure the risk of disease and contamination are minimized at their farms. Food safety compliance in the project is ensured via a secure traceability system, according to Blueyou.

The project benefits not only local communities with the development funds but also consumers in the market with its sustainable seafood, Blueyou said in a press release.

“The Fair Trade shrimp program by Blueyou and CPP is an example of the important impact that fair trade supply chains can have on farming communities. The extra money going directly to the local farmer cooperative illustrates the full potential of Fair Trade certification to strengthen communities. We hope the program demonstrates the strong market demand for socially responsible seafood products,” Fair Trade USA Aquaculture Program Director Blake Stok said.

Blueyou Fair Trade Program Manager Thomas Egli said the company will continue to cooperate with community-based producers in both fisheries and aquaculture sectors to meet rising market demand for sustainable and responsible products.

Photo courtesy of Blueyou