The non-profit organisation’s project will be funded by the International Fund for Fishing Safety (IFFS) and will support safer working conditions for fishers by identifying accident risks, co-developing safety materials, and delivering practical, fisher-led training to improve financial literacy, first aid, and labour rights.
The work directly supports protection commitments under ILO Convention C188, which sets international standards for work in fishing.
Indonesia is home to many thousands of small-scale tuna fishers, many of whom operate in challenging conditions with limited access to safety training, healthcare, or financial literacy support. Through this project, IPNLF will work closely with fishers and local partners to make sure solutions are practical, culturally relevant, and grounded in real working conditions at sea.
“This grant enables us to work directly with fishing communities in Indonesia to strengthen safety practices and support livelihoods,” said Kai Garcia Neefjes, IPNLF’s Indonesia Programme Lead. “Crucially, the project is built with fishers themselves, recognising their expertise and experience.”
The initiative contributes to IFFS’s strategic outcome of Safer Working Lives at Sea, while supporting broader efforts to improve labour standards, wellbeing, and resilience across small-scale fisheries.
IFFS Fund Coordinator Alan McCulla said: “Despite safety improvements in some parts of the world, fishing continues to be a dangerous occupation globally. In Indonesia, many lives, families and coastal communities depend on wild-capture fisheries. This makes it a key location for fisher safety. Fishers want and need to be safer, healthier and better supported, and that is at the heart of what sustainable fishing should mean.”
As part of the grant, IPNLF will share lessons learnt and practical resources to support wider replication of successful safety approaches in fisheries globally.
