Indonesia Secures Bigger Southern Bluefin Quota

Indonesia has been allocated a 25 percent increase in its southern bluefin quota, lifting its allocation to 1,670 tons per year for 2027–2029 from 1,336 tons previously. The decision came at the 33rd annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT) in Brussels. Members also raised the global total allowable catch to 23,647 tons of bluefin for the three years. Indonesia may additionally access up to 1,500 tons a year from unused allocations held by other CCSBT members, subject to the commission’s rules. Jakarta said it supports a science-based expansion of the global catch limit while continuing to seek a larger national share.

Indonesia claimed that a higher allocation would reflect fairness for its status of developing coastal state and its role as host of the world’s only known Southern bluefin spawning ground. The government highlighted in Brussels the completion of the return of excess catch, an increased onboard monitoring program, and strengthening catch-documentation controls. The quota gain follows a multi-year diplomatic campaign that Indonesia started in 2023 and renewed its case at the 32nd CCSBT meeting, hosted in Bali in 2025. Its fisheries minister sought at that time an allocation equivalent to 15 percent of the TAC, roughly 3,000 tons.