Trash to treasure ? Solving one of Asia’s most challenging fisheries issues

1. Trash to treasure ? Solving one of Asia’s most challenging fisheries issues Duncan Leadbitter Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Coral Triangle Fishers Forum Sanur, Bali June 2010 Bagged trawl bycatch, Mersing, East Johore

2. What is SFP? • SFP is an international non government organisation created in 2006 to promote management improvements in fisheries by engaging industry players at all levels in the supply chain • SFP is not an advocacy organisation. It works behind the scenes to encourage the private sector to engage in a productive way in discussions about sustainable use. • Make use of existing tools to analyse fisheries as the basis for discussing solutions

3. The term trash fish generally refers to fish not directly used for human consumption Although trash fish can be taken by variety of fishing gears the main source is from trawls where the catch of non target species is commonly very high (70% or more) Hundreds of species are involved and there are major concerns about the status of many species and the impacts on biodiversity. In most other countries trawl bycatch is simply discarded at sea or fed to the poor. In Asia, discarding is seen as waste and the use of trash fish is fueling a lot of the growth in aquaculture production. There is now a market for bycatch

4. Depending on species and volumes trash fish can be processed into human foods such as fish sauces, surimi and various other fish ‘snacks’. There is a huge market for this, and not just in Asia. A large proportion is used for feeding animals but this is in decline as the prices paid by aquaculturists increases. Trash fish destined for aquaculture is either fed directly to carnivorous species such as groupers and spiny lobsters or it is processed into fish meal and then used to make formulated feeds for a variety of species such as shrimp and, probably, pangasius, tilapia and many others.

5. Fish meal Groupers Spiny lobsters Others? Direct feed Trawl trash Shrimp Pangasius? Tilapia? Major overfishing problem Processed human foods Human Rights Resistance to using exclusion devices http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/study-abroad/091022/human-trafficking-seafood-industry

6. Understanding the situation Information collection regarding the issue: some good information available generated by directed studies in the period 1999-2004. Little information available subsequently – no management = no data. Identify and contact Asia based fish meal and feed producers . Need to understand the economic forces at work Have input to the various standard setting consultations currently underway (AD, GAA, GAP, IFFO)

7. Challenges faced to date Complexity and scale – there is no trash fish fishery to point at. Trash fish is sourced from hundreds of trawl ‘fisheries’ but equal to Peruvian anchovy in terms of volume Lack of information – can’t yet prove that trawl trash ends up in a shrimp or catfish sold in retail (and vice versa) Lack of awareness of the issue – at all levels, amongst all groups Solutions that keep useable fish (e.g ponyfish etc) whilst letting others such as juvenile groupers out need to be designed

8. Integration of approaches needed – action at the catching end and the market end Gear solutions – need finer tuned BRDs Improved aquaculture feeds Supply chain transparency in aquafeeds Solving trash fish issues Continue to push for management Awareness raising