A two-day meeting in Bangkok, Thailand brought together members of the National Fisheries Institute’s Crab Council and the managers of regional fishery improvement projects to review progress on sustainability initiatives in Asia.
The meeting’s activities, including a symposium featuring FIP leaders from China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, focused on management strategies for the blue swimming crab. The meeting was co-hosted by Monterrey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch.
The event also gave members of the NFI Crab Council, founded in 2009 and composed of companies that import a combined 85 percent of the total blue swimming crab imported into the United States, a chance to learn more about the sustainability activities in place for their fisheries and the data collection and monitoring tools being used in those projects.
“Sustainability does not occur in a vacuum,” NFI Crab Council Executive Director Ed Rhodes said in a press release. “Collaborations like these between stakeholders are essential to advance lasting fishery progress. The vast understanding on display during the workshop demonstrated that these FIPs are led by some of the most talented leaders in the fisheries improvement space.”
The NFI Crab Council, which has 25 members, funds blue swimming crab sustainability projects through contributions from participating companies and has received grants from the World Bank and the Walton Family Foundation. Last year, it raised more than USD 400,000 (EUR 361,000) to sponsor fishery improvement projects throughout the crab producing regions of Southeast Asia.
Indonesia Blue Swimming Crab Processors Association FIP Manager Hawis Madduppa said the workshop was an opportunity for his group to detail the work as they introduce a new approach to controlling and eliminating undersized crabs from the value chain.
“Control document testing is now being implemented in select Indonesian sites. The managers meeting served as an ideal venue to share information on each fishery’s respective work, and the benefits were immediately clear,” Maduppa said. “The interest in our control document work has spiked and we’re eager to share our results.”
