Indonesia: A recent workshop in Bali, organized by Dialogue Earth and China Blue, brought together Indonesian and Chinese fishing communities and NGOs to discuss issues such as climate change, conservation, and sustainable livelihoods. Highlighted during the meeting on the differences and similarities, China, traditionally agrarian, has the world's largest fishing fleet with millions of small-scale fishers, while Indonesia, an archipelago of around 17,000 islands, with an estimation of 2.5 million small-scale fishing households. Both nations face challenges in defining small-scale fisheries, with China focusing on boat size and Indonesia on boat weight. Source: https://www.eco-business.com/news/small-scale-fishers-of-indonesia-and-china-face-similar-issues/

A new five-year fisheries protocol to the sustainable fisheries partnership agreement was signed between the European Commission (EC) and the Republic of Kiribati on 2 October 2023. The new protocol will permit EC fishing vessels to restart operations in the fishing grounds of Kiribati. provides the EC vessels access to one of the world's richest and healthiest tuna populations found in the Pacific Ocean, an area that accounts for more than half of the world's tuna catch. For the first time the EC and Kiribati agreed upon a regime based on effort management (fishing days) rather than catch management (reference…

MALAYSIA: Job opportunities and benefits from the Social Impact Management Plan (SIMP) will be seen once the Penang South Island (PSI) reclamation work begins. There will be some 600 marine and land-based jobs when reclamation is carried out over 18 months, with priority given to fishermen and local residents. The positions range from licensed and professional roles to skilled and technical categories. Fishermen will also be given assistance in the form of bigger boats and engines, complete with accessories. Once the reclamation begins, there will be a 250m-wide navigation channel that enables them to go to sea regardless of the…

MALAYSIA: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) has the potential to be a leading aquaculture incubator in the country as it is the only public university that has facilities to be developed as fish and crustacean hatcheries. Minister of Higher Education Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the facilities at the aquaculture incubator at UMS Borneo Marine Research Institute are capable of producing hatchlings for the aquaculture industry in this country. “This university is the only one that has this incubator and the ministry will pay attention to help empower this incubator, it not only meets the issue of food security in…