Our Focus
Seafood Traceability
Information is power. Information about the fish on our plates has the power to improve fisheries management, support equitable working conditions for seafood laborers, and help prevent mislabeled and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) products from entering the market.
The ability to track and verify information about the origin and journey of seafood products as they pass through the supply chain is called traceability. Seafood’s long and complex journey from bait to plate makes it difficult for product information to be recorded accurately, consistently, and shared openly throughout each step in the supply chain.
For companies that buy and sell seafood, the lack of product origin information and supply chain transparency can pose significant risks. These businesses can use traceability as a tool to collect seafood product details and leverage this information to reduce the risk of illegal and unethical activities in their supply chains. Moving towards electronic traceability throughout the entire supply chain creates a path to efficiently share standardized data. Ultimately, a verified and traceable supply chain can improve product recalls and give greater confidence that products are accurately labeled, legally harvested, and comply with responsible labor standards.
Electronic catch documentation and traceability
Catch documentation starts at harvest. For wild-caught seafood, that involves collecting information for each harvest that identifies what was caught, where, how, when, and by whom to help verify the legality of each fishing effort. It also provides scientists and fisheries management agencies with a better picture of the state of our fisheries.
Currently, seafood harvest data is primarily handwritten on paper documents. This process is inefficient for data transfer and management and is susceptible to transcription errors and the loss of documentation. The goal is to make catch documentation and traceability electronic (eCDT). If critical information can be digitally entered at harvest, it can be transferred with greater speed and accuracy to other people in the supply chain, such as regulators for better fisheries management to support overall seafood traceability. Additionally, vessel monitoring by satellite and electronic monitoring of the catch by sensors onboard helps verify the seafood’s path and sustainability claims.
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Comprehensive eCDT
When referring to comprehensive eCDT, it means the system includes ecological, social, and economic data that accompany seafood products, allowing governments to strengthen the effectiveness of fisheries management, support legal and equitable human welfare conditions for seafood laborers, and identify and prevent illegal and mislabeled products from entering domestic and international markets. Creating a comprehensive seafood traceability program means it takes advantage of those 3 potential benefits – ecological, social, and economic.
We acknowledge there are many obstacles industry and government have faced when adopting a digital traceability system. Through research, interviews, and on the ground site visits, SALT called out the major barriers and solutions to implementing eCDT.