Supporting Marine Fishing Sustainably

The report assesses fisheries support in Indonesia, finding that central government spending focuses on fuel subsidies and infrastructure, while provincial support in Aceh, Maluku, and North Sulawesi emphasizes vessel and engine acquisition. It identifies fuel and fixed-cost supports as high-risk due to their potential to increase fishing capacity and effort in contexts where many fish stocks are already fully or overexploited.

• Central government support for marine fisheries is heavily concentrated in two areas: fuel subsidies and shared infrastructure, which together accounted for approximately 90% of all support between 2017 and 2020.
• Central-level fuel support, provided to vessels under 30 GT, is a high-risk measure that may encourage excessive fishing of stocks that are already fully or overexploited.
• Fuel subsidies primarily benefit boat owners and operators rather than the fishing crews, with evidence showing crew incomes in several provinces remain below the regency minimum wage.
• Provincial support patterns vary by region: Maluku and North Sulawesi focus heavily on vessel and engine acquisition (60% to 80% of spending), while Aceh prioritizes fisheries-related infrastructure (80% of support).
• Fixed-cost support for vessel construction and modernization is risky because it increases fishing capacity in fisheries—particularly small pelagics—that are data-poor and often overexploited.
• The distribution of fixed-cost support is often limited by the requirement for a functional, registered cooperative, which may exclude the most vulnerable fishers and favor those with political connections.
• Official data on fisheries support in Indonesia is often incomplete, highly aggregated, or not publicly available, hindering the ability to conduct detailed sustainability assessments.
• The report identifies six specific priority measures for in-depth evaluation: central-level fuel distribution (SPDN and SPBN), vessel construction in Aceh, small-scale boat procurement (<5 GT) and 15 GT vessel procurement in Maluku, and engine provision and poverty eradication transfers in North Sulawesi.

APA

Suharsono, A., Mustofa, A., Nuraini, Hizbulloh, L., Bellmann, C., Irschlinger, T., & Tolvanen, S. (2021). Supporting Marine Fishing Sustainably. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-07/sustainable-marine-fisheries-indonesia-en.pdf

Chicago

Suharsono, Anissa, Achmad Mustofa, Nuraini, Lalu Hizbulloh, Christophe Bellmann, Tristan Irschlinger, and Sari Tolvanen. Supporting Marine Fishing Sustainably. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2021. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-07/sustainable-marine-fisheries-indonesia-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Suharsono |first1=Anissa |last2=Mustofa |first2=Achmad |last3=Nuraini |last4=Hizbulloh |first4=Lalu |last5=Bellmann |first5=Christophe |last6=Irschlinger |first6=Tristan |last7=Tolvanen |first7=Sari |title=Supporting Marine Fishing Sustainably |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=July 2021 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-07/sustainable-marine-fisheries-indonesia-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{suharsono2021supporting, author = {Suharsono, Anissa and Mustofa, Achmad and Nuraini and Hizbulloh, Lalu and Bellmann, Christophe and Irschlinger, Tristan and Tolvanen, Sari}, title = {{Supporting Marine Fishing Sustainably}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2021}, month = jul, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2021-07/sustainable-marine-fisheries-indonesia-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }