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Catch data is essential in building a robust fisheries management strategy. However, in some Regional Fisheries Management Organization (RFMO) e.g., Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), such data needs to be tailored due to several reasons, for example, inter-annual variation in reported catches by species, gear and fleets. However, such method often creates a distinguishable discrepancy between national catch data presented in the country’s national report and those presented in the IOTC datasets. Similar to what happened in Indonesia, in particular affecting the yellowfin tuna catch. The re-estimation process by IOTC Secretariat produced 40% less catch than what Indonesia’s initially reported and currently under scrutiny.
Since the yellowfin tuna stock in IOTC was under pressure in the last five years, catch reduction was an inevitable solution for guiding it back into recovery. Nevertheless, if the new re-estimated data were to be used as the basis for catch reductions this would not reflect the real situation bearing in mind that the Indonesia waters is the largest ocean area and fishing capacity among IOTC members. Indonesia appreciates the effort taken by IOTC Secretariat to work with Indonesia on developing a new methodology based on the best data available from the robust logbook to produce data catch for the period of 2010-2021. Both parties agreed that the current re-estimation methodology was somewhat confusing and based on obsolete study, thus an updated version with more recent and robust datasets is imminent.
Seven-sessions assistance meeting (virtual and physical) with the IOTC staffs were held during 2021-2023 to follow up the WPDCS recommendation and the SC. This report provided an in-depth study on how to conduct recalculation on the Indonesian tuna datasets with emphasizing on using a reliable data source and minimizing the uncertainties. In the wake that this approach will be approved as the foundation for estimating Indonesian catches for the 2010–2021 periods.
