John Kerry praises Anova sustainability foundation

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry praised U.S.-based Anova Foods this week for the company’s efforts in Indonesia to promote sustainable fishing practices, and toured some of the company’s operations there.

Anova’s Fishing and Living initiative, which helps implement the company’s sustainability, community improvement and aid projects, recently acquired foundation status in Indonesia. This week, the foundation’s directors hosted Kerry and showed him Anova’s tuna sustainability operations at the Benoa port in Bali.

“These fish come to Outback Steakhouse [and] to WalMart, so everybody in America has a connection to what is happening here,” Kerry said. “And that's why I wanted to come over here to congratulate them for what they're doing and to learn a little more about it.”

Aditya Utama, the foundation’s director, said the foundation works with small-scale community fisheries across Indonesia in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development.

“There are over 3 million small-scale fishermen in Indonesia whose livelihood and food security depend on sustainable fisheries,” Utama said. “The goal of the foundation is to ensure both the sustainability of the fish and the sustainability of the fisherman and his community.”