Jakarta Globe 21 Sep 15;
Jakarta. More than a dozen Indonesian tuna canneries fail to meet internationally agreed standards for responsible fish processing, Greenpeace revealed on Monday.
The environmental group’s “Tuna Cannery Ranking for Indonesia and the Philippines” report found that 13 Indonesian canneries failed to meet three key criteria for processing fish: traceability, sustainability and equity, or the well-being of employees.
“When we did our research on these companies, we discovered many big tuna brands do not have any control in their supply chain,” Arifsyah Nasution, a marine campaigner at Greenpeace Indonesia, said in a statement on the group’s website.
“It has meant they can’t trace the accuracy of tuna distribution from the fishing boats to the canneries and then the consumers,” he added.
“It’s no wonder these companies had a hard time to meet the traceability, sustainability and equity criteria.”
Indonesia provides 4.6 percent of all canned tuna exports, a global market that was valued at $8.1 billion in 2013, according to the report. Most of the tuna caught and processed by Indonesian companies is destined for markets in Europe, North America, Japan and the Middle East.
The canning companies named in the report include Delta Pasific Indotuna, Samudra Mandiri Sentosa, Sinar Pure Foods International, Pasific Harvest and Bali Maya Permai Food Canning Industry.
The report also listed Avila Prima Intra Makmur, Rd Pacific International, Aneka Tuna Indonesia and Banyuwangi Cannery Indonesia.
Juifa International Foods, Carvinna Trijaya Makmur, Deho Canning and Maya Muncar were also named.
None of the companies were immediately available for comment.
“It is important that tuna canneries strengthen their standards on traceability, sustainability and equity in order to protect the health of our oceans and the safety of people who provide tuna to consumers,” Greenpeace said.
