Indonesia Conference Directory

Abstract With the primary aim of addressing information gaps on the scale and operations of Indonesia-s FAD based tuna fisheries, to aid improved fisheries management, an Indonesia - Australia research collaboration conducted a study during Nov 2013 – Dec 2015 at four key fishing ports in eastern Indonesia and western Indonesia. The full outputs from this study, involving an enumeration program with skipper interviews, biological sampling and direct observations are to be published as final report and subsequent papers. Presented here are preliminary results from research at two ports in eastern Indonesia - Kendari (SE Sulawesi) and Sorong (West Papua). All tuna FADs in Indonesian waters are anchored and are of 3 main float types: steel pontoon (ponton), bamboo with bungalow (rakit), and polystyrene block (gabus). Subsurface attractors are biodegradable materials and most commonly palm branches (nipa and coconut), and do not include netting materials. Tuna fisheries based in Kendari and Sorong include the fishing gears hand-line/troll-line (HL/TR), pole and line (PL), and purse seine (PS) and fishing areas include the Indonesian Fishing Management Areas 713, 714, 715, 716, and 717. Estimating the total number of FADs in these FMAs is difficult because of the current lack of effective systems of FAD registration and monitoring, and also because of the desire of fishing companies and vessel skippers to keep FAD position information confidential. Estimates range from several hundred to several thousand FADs. From 484 fishing trips surveyed, the average number of fishing days in trips of PL and HL/TL vessels in Kendari was 3 days and 7 days respectively, and 6 days for PL vessels in Sorong. Vessels visited up to 7 FADs in a single trip and the level of success in fishing events on FADs within a fishing trip (FAD Success Rate; FSR) varied across the fleets. In Kendari, HL/TR and PL vessels had a FSR of 64.9% and 65.9% respectively. The FSR of PL vessels in Sorong was 84.9%. The average catch rates (per trip) of HL/TL vessels in Kendari in 2013, 2014, and 2015 were 1077 kg, 1273 kg and 980 kg respectively. PL vessels in Kendari had average trip catch rates of 1593 kg (in 2013), 2490 kg (in 2014), and 4260 kg (in 2015). The average catch landings by PL vessels in Sorong in 2013, 2014, and 2015 were 6515 kg, 11,633 kg, and 13,569 kg per vessel per trip respectively. The estimated catch rate range for PS vessels based in Sorong during 14 months (Nov 2013-Dec 2014) was between 7,700 – 12,932 tonnes/set/vessel. Catch compositions included 18 species for HL/TL, 9 species for PL, and 7 species for PS. Skipjack tuna (SKJ) were the dominant species, 73% by volume, in catches of PL in Kendari and PS vessels in Sorong 76% and 81% of total catch respectively but only made up 41% of HL/TL landings and 38% of PL landings in Kendari. Yellowfin tuna (YFT) made up the largest proportion (47%) of HL/TL catches in Kendari, compared to SKJ (41%). A large proporti