Six years of collaboration between the Japan Consumers' Co-op Union and WWF: Behind the Scenes of Indonesia's Certification (Part 1)

Satoshi Matsumoto, Sustainability Strategy Office, Brand Strategy Headquarters, Japanese Consumers' Co-operative Union
Makoto Yoshida, Marine and Fisheries Group, World Wide Fund for Nature Japan (WWF Japan)

The 6th Japan Sustainable Seafood Awards (JSSA) was held in 2025. The Indonesia Shrimp Aquaculture Improvement Project (AIP) Phase 3 was selected for a special award in the collaboration category.

The Japanese Consumers' Co-operative Union (JCCU) is collaborating with a local shrimp processing company and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Japan and Indonesia to aim for sustainable black tiger prawn farming that is considerate of the environment and society. The initiative began in July 2018 and is currently in its third phase. The first phase did not result in certification, but the JCCU has continued to make improvements over the eight years since. The JCCU was also selected as the Collaboration Champion at the first JSSA in 2019, and this is the second time the JCCU has won the award.

We asked Matsumoto from the Japan Consumers' Co-operative Union and Yoshida from WWF Japan to look back on their efforts to date and talk about the difficulties they have faced over the years and the results of the improvements they have made.

Repeated reflection and improvement in the difficult field of aquaculture

--This project focuses on the farming of black tiger shrimp. Why black tiger shrimp?

Matsumoto : Since the 1970s, the Japanese Consumers' Co-op has been enthusiastically promoting black tiger shrimp, a native species of shrimp from Southeast Asia, in Japan. As a result, black tiger shrimp is still considered a strategic main product in the seafood division of the Japanese Consumers' Co-op. However, in recent years, farmed black tiger shrimp production has been on the decline in Southeast Asia.

Furthermore, for many years, our number one priority has been to deliver safe, secure, and delicious shrimp products to consumers, but before considering this project, there had not been enough efforts to consider the environment in shrimp-producing areas.In response to the adoption of the United Nations' SDGs in 2015, the Japanese Consumers' Co-op formulated a policy to strengthen efforts to respond to ethical consumption in its product business, and this project was launched as one way of making that policy a reality.

--This project has been ongoing for many years, with the first phase starting in 2018, the second phase starting in 2021, and the third phase starting in 2023. How do you view the progress you have made so far?

MatsumotoThis project began as an effort to improve local aquaculture farms, using ASC certification standards as a benchmark. The first phase began in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and although the farms met approximately 90% of the ASC certification standards, they were unable to obtain certification due to insufficient communication with local communities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This "lack of consensus building and relationship building" was the first major hurdle.

1) South Sulawesi Province, Sulawesi Island (Aquaculture Improvement Based on ASC Standards)
② Central Java (Aquaculture Improvement Based on ASC Standards)
3) Aceh Province, Sumatra (Conservation of parent shrimp resources and transition to sustainable fishing)

Learning from this lesson, in the second phase, we began collaborating with Misayamitra in Central Java, with whom we had been doing business since 2017. We continued the initiative in South Sulawesi, changing the target aquaculture site, but the situation was heavily influenced by the climate, with a lack of rain resulting in droughts, and excessive rain causing the aquaculture ponds to flood, making it a difficult challenge.

In the third phase, due to the unstable climate in South Sulawesi, it was not possible to increase the survival rate of the juvenile shrimp placed in the farm ponds, and even if improvements were made, it continued for a while without realizing any results. Meanwhile, in Central Java, despite the difficulties, local efforts progressed, and in March 2024, the farm ponds in Central Java obtained ASC certification, and in October of the same year, they were able to start selling labeled products in Japan.

Yoshida-san:One of the reasons we were unable to obtain ASC certification in the first phase was that we were unable to build sufficient relationships with producers at the start of the project. Learning from that experience, we made efforts to build relationships with producers in Central Java from the very beginning in the second phase, which I believe was the biggest factor in leading to obtaining ASC certification in the third phase.

The process of improving aquaculture based on ASC certification standards takes time and places a significant burden on local small-scale producers in terms of effort and expense. For this reason, it was important to get producers to understand the significance of the initiative and to gain their agreement at the very beginning.

This project also made us realize once again that it is extremely difficult to aim for international certification when improving small-scale aquaculture and fishing businesses on-site alone. Currently, Matsumoto and a member of the Fisheries Department from the Japanese Consumers' Co-op visit the site together once a year and also participate in online progress meetings. The close involvement of the Japanese Consumers' Co-op, as a buyer of the products, in the project has also helped to motivate the local Misayamitla company and producers, leading to the achievement of obtaining certification.

Aquaculture ponds targeted by the project

The number of collaborators has decreased from 20 to 4. The challenge is to increase the survival rate from 10% to 25%.

--What difficulties did you face in obtaining ASC certification in Central Java?

Matsumoto: When we first started our local efforts, around 20 producers gathered, but when we conducted trial aquaculture, the survival rate and harvest yield were lower than expected, and many of them gave up on participating, until ultimately only four people remained. I think the first hurdle was gathering producers to participate in the project.

Although the number of participants has increased this year thanks to the ASC certification we obtained in the third phase, maintaining the certification is difficult, and we are also aware of the difficulty of expanding certification to other aquaculture sites.

Yoshida-san: In Indonesia, it has become very difficult to farm black tiger shrimp in recent years, and producers are increasingly switching to vannamei shrimp and other fish species. Against this background, we first conducted experimental farming, but disease occurred and most of the shrimp did not grow to maturity for harvest.

In this situation, WWF Indonesia staff and Misayamitra representatives had repeated discussions with each producer, and together with the four producers who understood and agreed to the plan, they were able to start making improvements.

--You started your efforts to obtain ASC certification by building a cooperative relationship with local producers. I hear you faced some difficulties after that.

Yoshida-sanIn the case of extensive aquaculture, such as that used in Indonesia's black tiger prawn farming, a survival rate of 25% is required to obtain ASC certification, but the initial survival rate was only around 10%. Repeated production without changing the water in the farm ponds leads to deterioration of soil and water quality, making it difficult for plankton to grow and making it easier for disease to occur. This has resulted in a significant drop in survival rates compared to the past.

To improve this, before putting the baby shrimp into the ponds, the ponds were drained and dried in the sun to improve the soil conditions. Even after the shrimp were put into the ponds, water quality was managed by monitoring the salinity and dissolved oxygen levels to ensure that the environment was suitable for shrimp growth. Samples were also taken regularly to monitor the condition of the shrimp. Through these combined efforts, the survival rate was able to increase from around 10% to around 20%.

--In order to obtain ASC certification, the survival rate had to be raised from 20% to 25%.

Yoshida-san: Yes, so we took the measure of "reducing the farming density." By reducing the number of baby shrimp put into each pond and creating an environment that was easy for each individual shrimp to grow, we were able to increase the survival rate and exceed the 25% required by the ASC standard.

The company obtained ASC certification for its black tiger prawn farms in Central Java in March 2024, and began selling labeled products in Japan in October of the same year.

Matsumoto: However, this was not without its challenges. For producers, even if the survival rate increases by reducing the density, if the final harvest volume decreases, their income will decrease. Since the most important thing for producers is production volume, it is natural that they would want to increase production by introducing more baby shrimp, even if it means a lower survival rate. This time, the WWF staff carefully engaged in repeated dialogue with producers, helping them understand the objectives and significance as they proceeded. I believe that it was thanks to this process that they were able to achieve their goal in such a difficult situation.

The Indonesia Shrimp Aquaculture Improvement Project (AIP) overcame many obstacles to achieve ASC certification in Indonesia.Part2 We will now ask about mangrove restoration activities, efforts to improve shrimp farming in Aceh, and future prospects.

Interviewed and written by: Shino Kawasaki

After planning and editing corporate advertisements at a design office, she became a freelance writer, copywriter, and food coordinator in 2016. She writes for a variety of media, including women's magazines published by major publishers, food and beverage magazines and websites, and medical information websites.