"Certified to fish: Jakarta conference brings hope to fishermen the world over", 27 March 2017

The International Conference on Human Rights Protection in the Fishing Industry held on Monday 27 March in Jakarta, Indonesia was the culmination of almost two years of intensive effort since the revelation by the Associated Press of the tragic events in Bejina and Ambon... 

In tackling this and other crimes associated with the scourge of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUUF)... Indonesian Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Susi Pudjiastuti sought counsel from acknowledged experts in a whole range of fields. The end result has seen the evolution of ground-breaking regulation that mandates a human rights certification process as a prerequisite to obtain a licence to operate in the Indonesian fisheries industry.

Convened by the Ministry and FIHRRST [Foundation for International Human Rights Reporting Standards], in cooperation with the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and with support from the Belgian Foreign Ministry, the Jakarta conference provided an opportunity to reveal the thinking behind the regulation to representatives of ASEAN and other nations present...It permitted broader discussion on what the adoption of similar regulation by other nations could mean for the industry worldwide, as well as the economic pluses of being able to assure consumers that the fish they were buying had NOT been caught by slaves...