Impact
Sustainable Fish Asia (SUFIA) Local Capacity Development Activity worked with regional fisheries organizations to reduce illegal fishing and conserve marine life
Objective
To improve the management of marine biodiversity and fisheries resources in the Asia Pacific region by reducing unsustainable fishing and illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
Approach
Collaboratively worked to enhance the operational and technical capacity of two regional organizations to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and preserve biodiversity while also engaging the private sector in partnership to increase investment in sustainable fishing.
Impact
The project’s two regional partner organizations improved their ability and viability to engage multi-stakeholder constituencies to reduce illegal fishing and conserve marine life.
The Asia-Pacific region is rich in marine biodiversity and millions of people depend on fish to provide food and income. However, several factors, including overfishing and pollution, threaten the marine ecosystem, livelihoods, and food security in the region.
Combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing along with promoting sustainable fisheries practices and management was the focus of the Sustainable Fish Asia (SUFIA) Local Capacity Development Activity, a project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by RTI from 2020 to 2022.
SUFIA project activities were centered around a collaborative capacity strengthening approach with two key regional organizations: Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) and the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF). Both organizations are instrumental in promoting the sustainability of small-scale fisheries and marine biodiversity in the Asia Pacific Region. They also work to address issues of climate change, food security, and fair labor initiatives within the fishing industry.
Assessing Needs and Building Stronger Organizational Capacity
The SUFIA project guided organizational capacity assessments and provided customized capacity development services for SEAFDEC and CTI-CFF. Using the Participatory Local Organizational Capacity Assessment (PLOCA) tool which helps organizations identify capacity gaps along 10 organizational elements – RTI assisted partners in creating Capacity Development Action Plans (C-DAPs) in which they prioritized their own capacity development needs and identified appropriate capacity development resources. By the end of this process, both SEAFDEC and CTI-CFF improved performance, enhanced compliance systems, and developed greater operational sustainability.
The SUFIA project team also worked to identify and understand organizational incentives and relationships for optimal partner engagement through applied political economy analysis (PEA) tools. Applied PEA is a structured way to examine power dynamics and the political, social, and cultural forces that influence development outcomes within a local context, with the goal of sustainability. PEA is usually used to assess a community, a region, or a country – but our SUFIA team has adapted PEA tools to work within organizations.
Read more about how SUFIA LCD is strengthening capacities of regional fisheries organizations.
Building Partnerships with the Private Sector
The private sector plays a crucial role in achieving long-term viability of development activities. In the Asia Pacific Region, large and small fishing industry actors should be engaged and invested in preventing IUU and conserving marine biodiversity. Guided by USAID’s Private Sector Engagement Strategic Approach – the SUFIA team embarked on a region-wide Private Sector Landscape Assessment. This helped inform activities to incentivize fishing industry actors to invest in sustainable fishing practices and comply with existing environmental and labor standards. SUFIA also held networking, advocacy, and “idea pitch” opportunities where our partners engaged private sector actors to increase both compliance and investment in sustainable fisheries.
As the population of the Asia Pacific Region grows, so do the region’s nutritional and economic needs that can be generated from the ocean and inland fisheries. It is vital that government, business, and civil society work together to ensure a sustainable economic and environmental future for all the residents of the region.
The USAID Sustainable Fish Asia Local Capacity Development Activity was a task order under the Asia Support Services for Local Solutions Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity Contract.
Webinar Series: Private Sector Engagement in the Fisheries Section in the Southeast Asia and Pacific Region
USAID's Sustainable Fish Asia Projects* hosted a three-part webinar series regarding private sector engagement and partnerships for the fisheries sector in the Southeast Asia and Pacific region.
The series fostered discussions on what private sector engagement and partnerships can do for sustainable fisheries management, highlighting good practices, how to overcome key challenges, and how to build stronger cross-sector partnerships.
*USAID Sustainable Fish Asia Local Capacity Development (SUFIA LCD) implemented by RTI International, and USAID Sustainable Fish Asia Technical Support (SuFiA TS) implemented by Tetra Tech.
Webinar 1: USAID Private Sector Engagement Strategy, Partnership Development, and Good Practices
Date: June 7, 2022
Speakers:
- Chris Adams, USAID RDMA's Deputy Director General Office and Private Sector Engagement Alternate
- Avery Ouellette, RTI International’s Private Sector Engagement Director
- Presentation: Fundamentals of Private Sector Engagement
- Rosanna B. Bernadette Contreras, Executive Director of the SOCSKSARGEN Federation of Fishing and Allied Industries, Inc.
- Lida Pet-Soede, Programme Leader at Planet Partnership
Moderators:
- Patchareeboon Sakulpitaphon (Mam), SUFIA LCD’s Private Sector Engagement Specialist
- Thu Hue, Nguyen, SUFIA TS
Webinar 2: Share Value Partnerships with the Private Sector and Good Practices
Date: June 14, 2022
Speakers:
- Dr. Mohd Kushairi Bin Mohd Rajuddin, Executive Director of the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) and Ms. Katy Mathias, Conservation Finance Project Manager, Wildlife Conservation Society
- Veronica Yow, ESG & Impact Manager at Meloy Fund
- Presentation: The Meloy Fund for Sustainability Community Fisheries
- Tedy Harmoko, General Manager at Nutrindo
- Arcelio Fetizanan, CTO at Futuristic Aviation and Maritime Enterprises
- Matt Watson on behalf of Patrick Caleo, Regional Director, MSC Asia Pacific (Recording)
Moderators:
- Patchareeboon Sakulpitakphon (Mam), SUFIA LCD’s Private Sector Engagement Specialist
- Farid Maruf, SUFIA TS
Webinar 3: Private Sector Representatives Discussion on Strengthening Collaboration
Date: June 21, 2022
Speakers:
- Cherry Murillon, Founder and Lead Innovator at CAWIL. ai
- Presentation: Private Sector Engagement on Strengthening Collaboration
- Farid Naufal Aslam, CEO & Co-Founder of PT Aruna Jaya Nuswantara (Aruna)
- Presentation: Integrated Supply Chain Aggregator for Seafood Products
- Juliette Alemany, Ph. D. Country Manager and Data Scientist at Fairagora Asia
- Presentation: Private Sector Engagement Strengthening Collaboration
- Tran Van Hao, Assistant of Chairman, Vietnam Tuna Association
Moderators:
- Patchareeboon Sakulpitakphon (Mam), SUFIA LCD’s Private Sector Engagement Specialist
- Joey Pedrajas, SUFIA TS
*USAID Sustainable Fish Asia Local Capacity Development (SUFIA LCD) implemented by RTI International, and USAID Sustainable Fish Asia Technical Support (SuFiA TS) implemented by Tetra Tech.
