8 Developing zonal management

National Engagement (Zonal Management Pillar 1) The shrimp AIP in Indonesia has had the most effective engagement of the national industry and regulators of all projects to date. This is in part due to the historical linkages across the industry of the project manager, but is also testament to the interest and engagement of the government officers and industry leaders concerned. Key officers in the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) are involved in regional and national FAO projects that are highlighting the need for zonal management: the FAO-RAP office in Bangkok is developing an aquaculture planning and management toolkit; Indonesia has been identified by FAO as a pilot country for the Blue Growth initiative, so there is further incentive to actively engage across the fisheries and aquaculture sectors.

MMAF staff have been particularly keen to maintain Indonesia’s EMS-free status and have worked closely with SCI touring all shrimp production regions of this expansive country to alert farmers to the risks of EMS and encouraging them to report any concerns. These actions demonstrate real commitment from senior and field officers to the sustainability of the industry, but are still required to be backed with contingency plans developed in partnership with all stakeholders should a new major disease issue arise.
In an effort to improve traceability MMAF is also launching a program called “Aquacard” that should enable buyers to trace shrimp back to their production at the farm level. This idea is not without its challenges in the complex supply chains where production from numerous small producers is often consolidated. To help this initiative to succeed there will need to be dialogue between all stakeholders.

‘Informal Meetings’ (Zonal Management Pillar 1)

A true innovation of this AIP that needs to be widely promoted is the development of ‘informal meetings’ between MMAF, SCI and the national processor organisation AP5I. These meetings were initiated to encourage industry support for the ban on the import of shrimp from EMS-affected countries. The ban was brought in as Decree 32/2013 and is a logical response for Indonesia to retain its EMS-free status, but is only effective in emergency situations. Given the high value of shrimp in the market place of 2013, there was commercial pressure from the processors to bring in shrimp for reprocessing, but understandable nervousness from producers about the risks of importing EMS with such shipments. The innovation was for the responsible MMAF staff to call an informal meeting in which all parties could voice their concerns and reasoning freely. This allowed for dialogue and engagement that would not have been possible if the meetings were formal roundtables.
In essence the process mirrors the stakeholder roundtables at the core of the AIP model, but the fact that they were initiated as informal meetings removed some of the barriers to dialogue. Government staff in the meetings, even at the most senior levels, were asked by their colleagues to spend the time listening only, allowing the industry to dialogue and develop actions towards solutions. Only if no suitable resolution could be agreed would the government intervene. The first meetings brought about agreement that shrimp would not be imported from other countries and some containers were turned away from ports as a result. Indonesia remains EMS-free.
The meetings continue. Other occasional stakeholders join, but this will be regularised to include scientific advisory, NGO (social and environmental) and other industry stakeholders in due course. The challenge will be to retain the informal nature of the meetings as they become a more regular feature in the industry and government calendar, but this regularity will be offset by the familiarity of those attending with both the process and each other.

Small-Scale Producer Involvement (Zonal Management Pillar 2)

The local branch of the national Shrimp Club of Indonesia (SCI) identified the cluster of smaller-scale producers in Muncar as a good potential model for developing and demonstrating the zonal management model. The farms in Muncar are generally of older construction, and at the time of starting the aquaculture improvement project some of them were no longer used to produce shrimp, but produced crabs or finfish instead. Amongst the producers that remain there is a strong, informal association under the guidance of one shrimp trader who lives and still farms in the area.
This local group was encouraged to improve their access to the support that was available from the local government, as well as making more productive use of their combined power. The first step they chose was to formalise the group structure to demonstrate their commitment to work collectively and contribute time and money to future joint tasks. It was also hoped that this formalisation would reinvigorate the sense of belonging amongst local producers as many ponds have changed owners and operators. As a result of government support, shared canals have been improved, and through their own contributions the group has built a meeting hall and water quality testing laboratory that is slowly being fitted out with equipment. The group has received training on improved farm and zonal management practices, taking into account the risks they pose to each other and how to start overcoming some of these issues. The national government has also supported the group to replant mangroves as part of restoration efforts and as a waste treatment approach.
Muncar provides a small working focus of the wider aims of the zonal aquaculture improvement project (AIP). Whilst there is still a long way to go to improve the zonal management in Muncar, it has enabled both the local and national governments to understand in practice what could be started at the zonal level.

‘SCI Cares’ (Contributing to Pillar 2)

The local SCI branch is generally made up of largerscale, but still family-run shrimp producers. These farmers have been growing shrimp for many years now and believe that their farms are generally well run, although there are clear improvements that they would need to make to meet international certification requirements. Following many hours of workshops, informal dialogue and attendance at their branch meetings, these industry leaders came to understand that effective zonal management in Banyuwangi province needed their active engagement too if the shared risks and impacts were to be effectively overcome. Recognising that helping their smaller-scale neighbours to become better farmers was something they needed to become engaged in on a regular basis minimised risks to their own farms too. But these busy farmers do not necessarily have the skills or the time to deliver these improvements on their own, so the local SCI branch contacted the regional extension agency to understand how they could most effectively work together to support all farmers in the zone to minimise risks. This inspiring piece of initiative has strengthened collaboration between the local government and the shrimp producers not only to support development—which is something familiar to most local government aquaculture departments—but to work in partnership to identify and minimise the risks and impacts of shrimp farming. The initiative has been badged ‘SCI Cares’ and will hopefully be rolled out nationwide shortly as additional industry support becomes available.

Local Promotion and Data Presentation (Overriding Pillar of Data Disclosure, Supporting Pillar 2)

A simple tool that is helping develop engagement and pride in the work taking place locally in Banyuwangi, and also directly supporting one of the aims of the AIP, is the development of a website for the local SCI group and the wider shrimp production from Banyuwangi, www.sci-banyuwangi.org. The website is primarily in the local language, Bahasa, and used as a vehicle to inform farmers and the wider world on the improvement actions in the AIP as well as a shrimp newsfeed more generally. This provides control locally over the information that is shared about the industry and provides an opportunity to promote shrimp production from Banyuwangi more widely.

Code of Good Practice (Pillar 2)

Indonesia has its own shrimp farming standard. The standard is focused around good practice at the farm level, but it could form the basis of a Code of Good Practice that also included zonal management elements for the entire industry. Within the AIP the industry is not currently developing a specific Code of Good Practice, but is working with the government to explore including zonal management elements in future revisions of the national shrimp farming standards.

Challenges (Overall Approach, Supporting Pillar 2)

Long-term relationships with international buyers are less common in the Indonesian shrimp sector than in other countries. A lot of sourcing has typically taken place on the spot market, although this is starting to change as buyers need to source from additional markets and as the management of production at both the national (regulatory) and farm level is improving. The SFP model of using supply chain leverage to encourage improvement has been challenged in this AIP, but the engagement of the government and local industry has generally been strong because of the alternative motivators like the FAO projects mentioned above, the long-term relationship the AIP manager has with the industry and the history of effective results SFP has with fisheries in Indonesia. There is a lot of potential to grow production again in Indonesia and certainly a lotof apparent appetite from key stakeholders to do that following the zonal management principles. This is an important crossroads for Indonesian shrimp and serves as an interesting model for other industries in Asia where the champion exists readily in the government system, able to steer the industry into the calmer waters of maturity regardless of market pressure. This is particularly critical as greater demand for product comes from Asian markets that do not yet have the same sustainability demands as Western markets. But it also highlights an essential role for FAO and other international organisations to play in building capacity in government systems to effectively control aquaculture development for long-term sustainability rather than short-term, boom and bust, production gains.

Carrying Capacity (Pillar 3)

Industry and project engagement with the local government planning department (BAPPEDA) has been positive since the start. Roundtables bringing industry, regulators and scientists together have identified opportunities for improvement and specific actions for key parties to take. One such proactive move has come from BAPPEDA Banyuwangi to support a carrying capacity assessment to establish a mechanism to understand the environmental limits for total shrimp production.
At present the development of shrimp farming is still decided on the basis of suitability of land and access to key infrastructure. This classical approach to zoning only provides a guide to the areas where production might be most suitable. It does not provide any guidance on how much production the area can sustain, most typically in terms of the nutrient loads that could be processed effectively by the environment.
In relatively dispersed and open systems like coastal plains leading into the ocean, these sorts of calculations can be challenging and expensive. The BAPPEDA-supported study aims to provide information locally on ecological carrying capacity whilst also developing a usable, valid, low-cost approach that could be replicated elsewhere. SFP was able to obtain donor support to bring some international expertise in to support the University of Brawijaya is who the local technical lead on this carrying capacity project.
The approach is based on understanding water quality at key points where water enters and leaves the zone, along with calculating the nutrients added by aquaculture and other water users within the zone. The outcome is an indication of total nutrient loads that can be used to guide total amounts of production and how the industry to manage wastewater discharges through local dialogue.

Replication (Overall Aim, Covering All Pillars)

Since the start of 2014 SFP is also supporting local industries to develop two other shrimp AIPs, one in Vietnam and one in Thailand, with a mix of donor and supply chain support. The overall aims and approaches for these projects are the same as seen in Indonesia shrimp and Hainan tilapia. The projects focus on the five pillars of zonal management, but will respond to opportunities on the ground to engage the industry locally in the process of improvement. These projects are in early stages, but in Vietnam in particular are showing signs of great progress, including already the development of carrying capacity assessments and supply chain visits. In Thailand the local industry is still determining the scale of initial pilots.
In Indonesia a major shrimp buyer from the USA has collaborated with the Global Aquaculture Alliance to develop AIPs around the Best Aquaculture Practices new group certification model. This model requires an internal control system that would need to include elements relevant to zonal management. SFP is collaborating in the process and sharing our experience from supporting the progress made in Banyuwangi and wider Indonesia already. It is hoped that other buyers will be able to follow this model as it is bolted onto a certification process that they readily understand and have already often committed to supporting.
Having additional zonal AIPs established locally in different parts of Indonesia contributes to strengthening the industry to come together to take responsibility for its future and work effectively with other stakeholders.
With this approach in mind, and being conscious of the need to engage farmers in improvements at the farm level, SFP has obtained support from the charitable arm of a major global retailer to support the training of small-scale farmers in improved production practices and the initiation of local zonal management groups.