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To combat IUU fishing facilitated by at-sea transshipment, the Indonesian government banned the activity in 2014. Enforcing the ban, however, has been difficult due to the challenges of detecting and monitoring transshipment activities at sea. This study provides a suite of indicators for longline and purse seine fisheries in Indonesian waters as a useful tool to underpin monitoring, control, and surveillance activities to reduce IUU fishing. Through this analysis, the extent of increased enforcement and legislation managing transshipment puts Indonesia at the forefront of nations addressing IUU fishing.

Trawling is recognized as ecologically destructive and unsustainable and contributes to widespread IUU fishing in Indonesia. The number of trawlers is highest in North Sumatra, even though trawlers were banned in Indonesian waters in 1980. Indonesian authorities, because of bribery and corruption, have been unwilling to enforce the ban, leading to a rise in trawler activity. Trawlers often illegally enter a 3-mile zone reserved for traditional fishing activities. This invasion has led to ecological harm to the area, a decrease in stock leading to increasingly less income and a collapse of local fisheries, and most alarmingly, high levels of violence and conflict, sometimes leading to death. JALA is working with local fisheries to represent their needs to the Indonesian government and provide a solution for this urgent situation.

This report discusses the rapid expansion of squid fishing in the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) Convention Area. The vessels appear to operate exclusively in the high seas, avoiding exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and therefore falling within an area beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ).
The area of operation, although physically within the area covered by the regional fisheries management organisation (RFMO), the IOTC, does not fall within its area of competence as only tuna and tuna like species are included within the IOTC mandate. The squid fishery presented in this report, based on analysis of data from January 2015 to April 2017 is therefore unregulated.
Squid are important prey for 12 predatory species including significant species such as bigeye tuna and swordfish. A clear understanding of sustainable yields is needed and management frameworks are required to sustainably manage this fishery.