MDPI Pursues Fisheries Social Responsibility Assessment Training
- September 2, 2025
by A. Riza Baroqi
This article features a personal experience from our Governance Officer, A. Riza Baroqi, who joined the Social Responsibility Assessment (SRA) training in Los Angeles, United States, February 2025. The assessment act as a tool to measure social aspects on the implementation of Fishery Improvement Project (FIP).
It was a rewarding experience for me to sit among practitioners, assessors, and experts of the fisheries Social Responsibility Assessment (SRA). The forum went beyond technical learning, encouraging members to share stories, challenges, and lessons from applying social assessments at field.
Bringing Indonesia’s Perspective to Social Responsibility Assessment for the Fisheries Sector
As a representative of MDPI, I felt the obligation to carry the voices of Indonesia’s small-scale fishers. Most participants came from the Americas, and the contrasts were striking. Each nation has distinct vessel operation, social system, and fishing culture. That diversity was precisely what made the forum valuable, offering a clearer view of the global landscape of fisheries.
Discussions were open and candid. We compared experiences applying SRA, from small-scale Southeast Asian operations, to industrial-scale fisheries in Latin America. What stood out was the shared challenge: social responsibility assessment are never straightforward. Indicators can be overly technical, and sometimes fail to capture on-the-ground realities.
The SRA indicators pose a striking challenge that is most intriguing to me. For example, the crew welfare measurement indicator that suits best for larger vessels with crews. Small-scale fishers in Indonesia often work alone, with no “crew” in the formal sense. Such gaps underscored the need to adapt assessment tools to local contexts.
Read also: When Fishers’ Business Attracts Bonuses and Projects for the Community
Not all indicators carry the same level of difficulty, and sometimes assessments reveal new responsibility that had previously gone unnoticed. These findings can be crucial for refining SRA frameworks. In Indonesia, MDPI’s initiative Fisheries Co-Management Committee (FCMC) for example, could provide an important space for stakeholder participation that is not always present elsewhere.
Lessons Learned from Stakeholder Mapping
One highlight of the training was a session on stakeholder mapping. It became clear that improving fishers’ social well-being requires understanding who is involved, what their interests are, and how to engage them. Good mapping, participants agreed, is key to effective and lasting interventions.
The forum also reached a milestone: establishing a Community of Practice (CoP) for SRA practitioners. For those of us working in the field, such a platform will be vital for sharing lessons, best practices and solutions to recurring challenges. The CoP will act as a valuable learning hub for us fisheries experts and practitioners.
Ocean Outcomes took the lead in initiating the CoP and signaled a strong commitment to advancing social issues in fisheries. There are already plans to form a wider SRA consortium, bringing together NGOs such as MDPI, Conservation International (CI), and FishChoice. This emerging network could serve as a powerful foundation for global collaboration and ensure social dimensions are not sidelined in fishery improvement projects.
Read also: North Maluku Fishers: Battling at Sea, Stumbling on Land
Returning Home with Renewed Energy
For me, the training was more than a technical exercise. I returned to Indonesia with new ideas, fresh energy and a stronger conviction: cross-border collaboration is not just rhetoric, but a real necessity. And the path forward is clear: towards fisheries management that is fair, inclusive and sustainable.
The training provided not only insights on a social assessment method. It gently reminded us that the people that we assess are not just numbers nor reports, the people that deserve to hear and fight for. And that is the energy I wish to bring back on the field.