Food Security in Indonesia - It's About Fish

UNCLAS JAKARTA 001473 SIPDIS DEPT FOR COS, F, OES AND EAP COMMERCE FOR NOAA USAID FOR ANE, EGAT BANGKOK FOR RDM/A NSC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR EAID KGHG SENV PGOV ID SUBJECT: Food Security in Indonesia - It's About Fish ¶1. Summary: Post proposes the establishment of an Indonesia-U.S. Center for Sustainable Ocean Fisheries. This joint research institute would explore and study waters that house the world's highest ocean biodiversity. The resulting science discoveries would help drive Indonesia and regional ocean fisheries policies onto a sustainable path for ocean food resources and the marine ecosystem. They would provide applied science solutions for local communities and commercial ports in Indonesia through networks of education extension services. These understudied waters are critical not only to the 120 million people living in the maritime nations of the Coral Triangle, but also for Americans and global consumers of pelagic fish species. For example, 90 percent of the world's tuna catch originates in this region. The establishment of such an institute would address both food security and climate change adaptation in the largest majority Muslim country in advance of climate change talks in Copenhagen in December. End Summary. Vision -------------- ¶2. The Indonesia-U.S. Center for Sustainable Ocean Fisheries will allow American and Indonesian scientists to collaborate on research that will yield the knowledge and techniques needed to safeguard the region's marine ecosystems - while feeding the millions that depend on the ocean for sustenance. The Center would support: -- Marine ecosystem monitoring -- Research -- Institutionalized fisheries stock assessment programs -- Development and analysis of marine resources management approaches and options -- Delivery of policies and advice to marine resource managers and users Core Objectives -------------- ¶3. The center will obtain critical knowledge about the marine ecosystem that will improve the management and use of Indonesia's "Amazon of the Sea." It will create opportunities for U.S. institutions and researchers to expand research in marine science and coastal ecosystems in an area that has been virtually closed to U.S. scientists. The core partnerships featured in this center include U.S. universities and research institutions, such as the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the University of Washington or others, and U.S. science agencies, like NOAA, working together with �00A;Indonesian research institutions, agencies, and education networks. The center will provide reliable information for fisheries managers and help build a culture of basing policy decisions on sound science. It will promote interactions among U.S. and Indonesian institutions, scientists, and marine resource managers. Additional Benefits -------------- ¶4. The center will: 1) extend our partnership to science cooperation as articulated in President Obama's Cairo Speech; 2) address the inseparable linkages between climate change impacts on coastal/marine-dependent communities and food security, outlined in Secretary Clinton's delivered remarks at the World Ocean Conference (WOC) in Indonesia in May 2009; 3) build on Indonesia's demonstrated commitment to sustainable ocean fisheries and climate change adaptation in the WOC and President Yudhoyono's Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI); 4) build on our commitment as the largest bilateral partner of the CTI; and 5) Provide scientific complement to USAID Indonesia's substantial Marine Resources Program investment over the next five years. Rationale -------------- ¶5. In Indonesia, food security depends on healthy marine resources. Over 65 percent of Indonesia's protein supply comes from fisheries products. Indonesia is home to the world's most diverse marine ecosystems. It is at the heart of the region that produces nearly 90 percent of the world's tuna catch. The Coral Triangle is home to the world's largest stocks of commercially-important tuna species. Approximately thirty four million Indonesians depend on this biodiversity for their livelihoods. But overfishing, habitat destruction, and the impacts of climate change threaten the archipelago's food security. These factors, combined with lack of basic data about coastal and pelagic fisheries on which Indonesians depend undermine Indonesia's efforts to manage its fisheries sustainably and adapt to climate change. Potential Partners -------------- ¶7. The Indonesia-U.S. Center for Sustainable Ocean Fisheries would be a partnership among Indonesian and U.S. science agencies and academic institutions. A network of existing "sea partnership" institutions would deliver new knowledge and techniques directly to the agencies and organizations that need it through local universities and field agents. The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Affairs and Fisheries Research Officials are enthusiastic about becoming a partner, if not the leader of the institute. Founding partners in Indonesia could be the, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, the University of Indonesia, and Bogor Agricultural University (IPB). ¶8. The Indonesia-U.S. Center for Sustainable Ocean Fisheries will have its greatest impact if it reinforces and complements existing investments and addresses the most urgent issues in fisheries management. This center could become one of the first science cooperation activities under the new U.S.-Indonesia Science and Technology Agreement currently in the final stages of negotiations. Hume