APEC Project Database

Project Title

Economic Security and Sustainable Tuna Fisheries in the Coral Triangle

Project Year

2008

Project Number

FWG 01 2008A

Project Session

Not Applicable

Project Type

Standard

Project Status

Completed Project

Project No.

FWG 01 2008A

Project Title

Economic Security and Sustainable Tuna Fisheries in the Coral Triangle

Project Status

Completed Project

Fund Account

APEC Support Fund

Sub-fund

ASF: General Fund

Project Year

2008

Project Session

Not Applicable

APEC Funding

49,500

Co-funding Amount

34,180

Total Project Value

83,680

Sponsoring Forum

Fisheries Working Group (FWG)

Topics

Fisheries; Marine Conservation; Oceans

Committee

SOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE)

Other Fora Involved

Not Applicable / Other

Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved

Not Applicable

Proposing Economy(ies)

Indonesia

Co-Sponsoring Economies

Canada; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Chinese Taipei; United States

Expected Start Date

01/01/2008

Expected Completion Date

31/12/2009

Project Proponent Name 1

Dr. Subhat Nurhakim

Job Title 1

Senior Researcher

Organization 1

Agency for Marine and Fisheries Research

Telephone 1

Not Applicable

Email 1

subhat_prpt@indo.net.id

Project Proponent Name 2

Ir. Anang Noegroho, ScM, MEM

Job Title 2

Director of Foreign Market Development

Organization 2

Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries

Telephone 2

62-21-6451260

Email 2

anoegroho@dkp.go.id

Declaration

Not Applicable

Project Summary

The Coral Triangle (CT), a marine region bounded by the countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands is extremely rich in marine biodiversity and natural resources, including five valuable tuna species, but without wise sustainable management these resources will not endure. This project would develop an international workshop to be held in the Coral Triangle to attempt to unlock the secrets of sustainable economic management and trade in tunas of the region and to provide opportunities for enhancing regional economic security and trade. The workshop would bring together local, regional and international experts from industry, retail, scientific, economic and policy- making communities to think together creatively about an optimal model for management and trade. The output will be a model or series of models on how to sustainably manage the tuna in the CT region using trade and markets to complement and strengthen existing resource management measures.

Relevance

The Coral Triangle (CT), a region bounded by the countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and the Solomon Islands, is the center of the richest marine biodiversity anywhere on earth. As a result, it contains spawning and nursery grounds and migratory routes for valuable species of tunas including bluefin, bigeye, yellowfin, skipjack and albacores from the Indian, Southern and Pacific Oceans, where some 89% of the world’s tuna catch occurs.

The goal of this project is to develop a model or models for sustainable economic management and trade of tunas in the region by pulling together a multi-sectoral group to think collectively the economic dynamics of these resources. This project is central to the ECOTECH’s key priority of advancing freer trade and the theme falls under the Ministers’ ECOTECH priorities of further enhancing private sector development by providing new ways of examining how the tuna fisheries could be optimally managed and addressing socio-economic disparities generated by the tuna trade. The project's objective likewise is central to two priorities stated under the Manila Declaration, i.e., the development of stable, safe and efficient capital markets and promotion of environmentally sound growth that contribute to safeguarding the quality of life. It also contributes to many of the recommendations under the Bali Plan of Action as detailed below.

Current approaches to management of the tuna resources revolve primarily around managing harvest through command- and control-based input and output controls. But these approaches are extremely large costly to implement and enforce. A key weakness in current tuna management efforts is lack of sufficient resources among CT countries to implement policies and undertake research in support of decision making for management. Only a meager portion of gains from tuna trade are actually channeled back for management purposes. This project will seek to expand current management tools to include the use of economic measures and incentives as management levers. It will also strive to identify and develop innovative financing options harnessing trade and markets to support management costs. Additionally and more importantly, this project aims to develop innovative ways of channeling back a part of the benefits from tuna harvest and consumption to support tuna management costs throughout all stages of the species’ life cycles. Sustainable management of tunas from spawning through maturity will improve survival rates and generate a larger total volume of tunas, to the benefit of all.

This project will address the possibility of using trade and market management measures to complement and effectively implement existing resource management measures set by appropriate fisheries bodies such as the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the FAO. It is not intended to duplicate or compete with them. This project is not a purely governmental effort, but will also include the industry players, researchers and WWF (World Wildlife Fund) to broaden the range of stakeholders participating.

By drawing together regional and international expertise to discuss collectively how to make the tuna industry a sustainable economic activity in the Coral Triangle, this project directly contributes to institutional learning and develops capacity on use of economic management tools to complement existing resource management.

Objectives

The objective of the project is to develop an economic model or models of how best to manage tuna fisheries in the Coral Triangle (CT) using trade and markets as tools for management. To achieve these objectives, an international workshop will be held in the region to:

1. Contribute to the current understanding of sustainable management of the tuna fisheries in the Coral Triangle.

2. Identify sources of sustainable financing for the management of tuna fisheries in the CT through trade and markets.

Two trilateral committees established by separate Memoranda of Understanding already exist that between them include all five of the CT countries. The Fisheries Subcommittee of the trilateral committee for the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion (SSME) (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines) has already agreed on shared priorities and is seeking means to finance and implement them. The planned workshop will address some of these, as well as several of the recommendations under the APEC Bali Plan of Action.

The workshop will be divided into 2 parts to address each of the 2 key objectives listed above: 1) Sustainable Management of CT tunas, and 2) Sustainable Financing. Various topics will be addressed under each objective, derived from the SSME Fisheries Subcommittee Workplan and the APEC Bali Plan of Action. Since the range of stakeholders and decision-makers expected to attend will vary in their knowledge and expertise, significant preparatory work will be undertaken to facilitate discussion and make valuable use of the time at the workshop. Background papers and/or small experts’ meetings prepared in advance will provide the basis for presentations at the workshop and discussion agendas. The workshop topics to be covered will include:

Objective 1: Sustainable Management of CT Tuna Fisheries

a. Identification of the role of the CT in the entire life cycle of tunas in the APEC region, including identification and requirements for protection of areas critical to the life stages such as spawning areas, nursery areas and migration routes. (Bali Plan of Action (BPA) para. 1.a.i; viii; I.c.xiii.)

b. Exploration of means to facilitate joint population studies on shared tuna stocks and other migratory species (SSME Fisheries Subcommittee work plan and the BPA paragraphs 1.a.i; iii and I.c.xiii.)

c. Identification of opportunities for harmonizing management of tunas and small pelagics in the CT by development and transfer of technologies to mitigate by-catch and reduce catch of juvenile tunas (SSME Fisheries Subcommittee work plan and the BPA para. 1.c.i-iii; vi and iv.)

d. Exploration of opportunities for reducing waste through improved post-harvest handling to meet food safety and fish quality standards (BPA para. I.b.iv; II.iii; vii and xiv) and improving the income of small scale tuna fishers without the necessity of increasing volume of catch. This is of particular importance to women in the region as they are often engaged in the post-harvest handling, processing and selling of tuna in local markets.

Objective 2: Sustainable Financing for CT Tuna Fisheries

a. Improved understanding of the patterns and pathways of the tuna trade throughout the CT, WCPFC and APEC regions (BPA para. I.a.x; I.b.iii; II.iv; xi and xiii).

b. Identification of economic inefficiencies in current tuna fisheries and trade in the CT and opportunities for adjusting them to contribute to sustainable supplies of resources, local livelihoods and food security, as well as regional and international trade (BPA para. I.a.x; I.b.iii; II.iv; xii and III.ii)

c. Exploration of the role of the CT in providing ecosystem services for tuna industries and markets serving the international community (BPA para. I.a.x; I.b.iii; II.iv; xii and III.ii)

d. Identification of opportunities for potential sustainable funding mechanisms for tuna management in the region. (BPA para. I.b.iii)

Alignment

Beneficiaries and Outputs

The whole spectrum of tuna stakeholders stand to benefit from this project. These include the tuna producing APEC economies of the Coral Triangle (Indonesia, Philippines, PNG, Malaysia, Solomon Islands); the major tuna markets that include APEC economies of USA, Japan, Taiwan, China, and the EU; the industrial and small-scale tuna fishing and processing sectors of the Coral Triangle countries; the traders and the global consumers of tuna. Women working in the tuna industry stand to directly benefit from this work both as providing the main labor force of the large tuna processing companies and as small-scale processors themselves. Additionally, collaborative solutions for sustainable management and financing of fisheries within national waters can provide lessons learned and models that may have applications in other regions with important transboundary tuna spawning areas and migratory routes.

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The output will be a workshop report that contains an economic model or combination of models on how to sustainably manage the tuna in the CT region using trade and markets to complement and strengthen existing resource management measures. An economically sustainable tuna trade means that not only will tuna be provided at the most with greater economic efficiency, while sustainable tuna management means that the supply will continue indefinitely into the future, rather than being depleted or even exterminated. All stand to gain. The tuna-exporting APEC economies (Indonesia, Philippines, PNG) will continue to benefit from foreign exchange generated by the trade. Tuna fishers, from the small-scale handline fishers to the crew of super seiner vessels will have greater job and economic security. The industry will continue to provide livelihood for those involved in ancillary industries, including tens of thousands of women employed in tuna canning, traditional processing and marketing. Market-destination APEC economies such as US, Japan, Taiwan, China and the EU will enjoy a continued supply of tuna reaching the consumers.

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Although other APEC fora have not yet been consulted about this project, several other working groups have priorities that would be addressed by this project. Some of these include the APEC Working Groups on: Marine Resources Conservation, Human Resources Development, Small and Medium Enterprises and Trade Promotion.

Dissemination

The main output of this project will be a set of economic models that explore the use of trade, markets and consumer preferences to support management of resources at its source. In as much as this is a new approach, the use of the models and how they will affect various sectors will need to be examined. This can only be done thoroughly through consultations with various sectors of the tuna industry. Therefore, the feedback from the constituency will be of utmost importance.

The workshop outputs and models will therefore need to be simplified into a form that is understood by the tuna stakeholders, with explanations of how these new models can improve their lives. It will have to show how its implementation would affect different sectors, including women, in both the short and long term, especially compared to the status quo situation or if no changes are made. WWF will assist in the project through its offices within the Coral Triangle to accomplish these objectives.

Results will be made available in several formats. The workshop results in its technical form will be posted in the various websites and distributed to the policy making, scientific and economic community for its technical soundness and implementability. The layman’s version will be distributed to the various NGOs and the private sector for comments and feedback.

The results will be distributed in electronic form to save on costs, and copies will be made as needed.

The publicity plan includes the holding of a press conference during/after the workshop. Through the assistance of WWF, press releases (written media) will be made available in order to generate feedback from the consumers, which are the largest sector of the tuna industry.

The immediate budget for this section requested from APEC is US$2000, but other costs of translations, generation of copies and sectoral consultations will be shouldered by concerned APEC economies. WWF will help APEC countries in the Coral Triangle implement the Communications and Publicity Plan of this project.

Gender

The role of women in fisheries is an important component of the tuna industry, and their numbers are very significant, particularly in post-harvest handling, processing and selling of tuna in local markets. The concerns of women in the tuna sector will be given particular attention in the topics addressed by the workshop. This project will also ensure an equal representation of women in all phases of planning and implementation. It will provide for appropriate participation of women in the core implementation team and the participation of women during the workshop. Consulting with women’s sectors of the tuna industry after the workshop to receive their feedback on the workshop results will help to ensure that these sectors will also benefit from any changes made in management and trade.

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Currently, women’s involvement in the tuna sector in the CT consists mainly of working on the processing plants; traditional processing of tunas (boiling, salting, smoking); and the selling of fish at the local market. Women stand to benefit from the successful outcome of the project because tuna processing plants and traditional small scale tuna processors, both small and medium-sized enterprises, will have continuous supply of tuna harvests to improve both job security and economic livelihoods. In particular, the traditional processors should have increased income through a higher quality of tunas being traded.

How This Project Will Ensure Equal Representation Of Women And Address Gender Concerns
Project Design
1. Team Formation	This project ensures that women will have ample representation in the team responsible for moving this project
2. Selection of Speakers	There will be no gender bias in the selection of speakers/ experts that will be hired. Given similar experience and qualifications, equal representation of women will be ensured by the project.
3. Roundtable discussions	Participants invited to the workshop are representatives of various sectors of the tuna. This project ensures no gender bias and that women are represented in all key sectors, government, industry, market and trade.
4. Consultation and Feedback	the models that will be discussed will be presented to the stakeholders for their feedback. The project ensures that consultation of women sectors on the possible impact of the project on the short and long-term.
Project Outcomes
Direct benefits	sustainably managed tunas will mean continues availability of raw materials, hence will have job security to thousands of women working in processing plants and livelihood to those small-scale processing undertaken by women.
	continues supply of tunas would engage women into the economic sector.
Indirect benefits	given job security and livelihood for women translate to better and wholesome living

Work Plan

This project involved three phases:

Phase 1: Organization, project planning and pre-workshop preparations:

This phase involves the hiring of office personnel to help organize and implement the project. The project overseer will work with its major partner, the international NGO WWF (World Wildlife Fund) to form a core team to assist the project in planning and organization. Women will be included as part of core team to ensure accurate representation of women’s concerns in the industry. One of the major tasks of the core team is to identify and invite economic and tuna fishery experts to synthesize material and prepare background papers for discussions during the workshop. During this phase, the Outputs: Finalized workshop concept and design, operational plan for the project. Possible Risks: Difficulty in obtaining commitments from the preferred tuna experts for the dates selected. This will be addressed by ensuring a large pool of potential experts/speakers from which to choose.

Phase 2: Preparation of background papers.

Eight invited key speakers/experts will be given ample time (4-6 weeks) to prepare background papers and develop ideas on the various topics listed as Workshop Targets under item 3 above. Gender bias in the selection of key speakers will be avoided. These expert papers will provide the background documents and serve as discussion points during the workshop. In this phase, the project team will support key speakers with information needed and link them with major industry players to gather ideas and information. When warranted, WWF will organize a mini workshop for writers and industry players to meet.

Outputs: List of Accepted Speakers/Experts, Background papers, mini-workshops

Possible risks: Speakers that agree to participate and then withdraw at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances. Extra speakers/ experts will be solicited, so that even if one or two cannot participate, the agenda will still be complete. Additionally, multiple experts in each of the workshop topics will be included to ensure fruitful discussions.

Phase 3: Holding of the international workshop (3 days):

A reputable workshop facilitator will be hired to help implement the workshop according to plan. At the workshop, speakers will address the topics of the background papers and present the various scenarios. Participants will then discuss different models and options for decision-makers. A report of the meeting, including the speakers’ talks and different models and options discussed, will be coordinated and compiled through a team effort (rather than a meeting report negotiated and agreed at the meeting.)

A press conference will be organized after the workshop to inform the public of the workshop objectives and how the results of the workshop will help in the management of the tunas in the Coral Triangle.

Outputs: Workshop, Draft models, Press conference;

Phase 4: Finalization of Workshop output and distribution (2 weeks):

The workshop results will be circulated a week after the event to the participants for comments before finalization. The final results will be uploaded to the APEC and participating websites. Copies in CD will be distributed to the tuna stakeholders of participating economies to generate feedback from the constituency. Translations of key results will be made in order to get feedback from the sectors of women and small scale fishers of the CT countries.

Outputs: Final workshop report, CD, translations of report

Phase 5: Feedback and Consultations

Participating APEC economies are expected to undertake consultations to obtain feedback on the use and feasibility of implementing the economic model. Feedback from womens’ sectors of the industry will be given highest priority. The results of the consultations will be posted in the APEC websites and serve as inputs for refinement of the models and their application.

For the countries in the Coral Triangle, WWF will assist the project in this consultation process. The results of the consultations will then be circulated to the participants of the workshop for refinement of the model. The results could then be tested and used as model that governments and NGOs) could later pursue.

Outputs: Consultations, Implementation Feasibility reportPotential risks: Few risks are associated with this project, as long as the participation a sufficient number of experts can be guaranteed. Several of these have already been tentatively approached and have expressed interest. WWF has significant experience in hosting workshops of this type. WWF has offices and staff in all five CT countries to provide the necessary support. Interest in the tuna resources of this region is sufficient to ensure that many individuals will want to participate. The greatest potential risk may be in having to turn away participants that would like to participate.

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The government of Indonesia, together with the co-sponsors, (Philippines, Papua New Guinea, U.S., Chinese Taipei and Canada) will participate in the planning and workshop phase of the project. WWF will assist the planning team in every phase of the project, providing logistical and technical assistance throughout as well as matching funding. The US and Canada will provide the travel expenses for participants from their governments that will attend the workshop. The governments of Indonesia, Philippines and other participating APEC CT countries will consult their respective tuna stakeholders for feedback, undertaking translations and simplifications into local languages. The results will be posted on the internet for use by policy makers and linked to the APEC website.

Risks

Not Applicable

Monitoring and Evaluation

The end-of-project targets will be increased knowledge of each of the topics listed under the 2 objectives above. The current level of understanding of the science or the economics tunas in the CT countries is incomplete and inconsistent, with less known about these resources in some countries than others. The scientific data is woefully inadequate for optimal management and decision-making. Additionally, information on the pathways of tuna harvest, processing and trade is scanty. The workshop background papers will bring together available information (published, gray literature) to determine the extent of existing information and gaps in knowledge. These will then form the basis for workshop presentations and fruitful discussion. The workshop conclusions and subsequent report will provide valuable information to be used in support of sustainable tuna management in the CT countries. These will be the targets against which project success can be measured and to contribute to sustainable management and trade.

Linkages

The project goal of developing and implementing an economic model to complement traditional methods of tuna stock management is a new approach. APEC economies will stand to gain from using this approach, particularly those that export and import tunas and its products. Current efforts of APEC on live reef fish trade will benefit from using this approach where sustainable trade and support of consumers in destination markets can help in the regulation and enforcement of fisheries at their sources. Similarly, other regions and countries could benefit from development of a new model. Scientific and trade data collected as part of the background information for the workshop will draw on work currently being undertaken by the SPC and the WCPFC and any additional information gathered will be fed back into these ongoing efforts.

Sustainability

Not Applicable

Direct Labour

Not Applicable

Are there any supporting document attached?

Project No.
Project Title
Project Status
Fund Account
Sub-fund
Project Year
Project Session
APEC Funding
Co-funding Amount
Total Project Value
Sponsoring Forum
Topics
Committee
Other Fora Involved
Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved
Proposing Economy(ies)
Co-Sponsoring Economies
Expected Start Date
Expected Completion Date
Project Proponent Name 1
Job Title 1
Organization 1
Telephone 1
Email 1
Project Proponent Name 2
Job Title 2
Organization 2
Telephone 2
Email 2
Declaration
Project Summary
Relevance
Objectives
Alignment
Beneficiaries and Outputs
Dissemination
Gender
Work Plan
Risks
Monitoring and Evaluation
Linkages
Sustainability
Direct Labour
Are there any supporting document attached?
hdFldAdmin
Project Number
Previous Fora
Secretariat Comments
Reprogramming Notes
Consolidated QAF
Endorsement By Fora
PD Sign Off
Batch
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Committee Ranking Category
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Monitoring Report Received
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PMU Field 1
PMU Field 2
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Content Type: Standard Proposal