Where We Work

The fisheries industry contributes significantly to Tanzania’s economic and social wellbeing, particularly in supplying animal protein and generating income, employment, tourism, and food security for millions of people. More than 90% of its annual fish landings come from the small-scale artisanal fisheries, supporting more than 4.5 million people who are engaged in fisheries-related activities.

SALT partnered with the Government of Tanzania’s Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Department to co-design a strategy for applying the Comprehensive Traceability Principles and Pathway to improve transparency through traceability, engagement and involvement of women and youth in data capture, and government to government coordination.

SALT’s project in Tanzania is conducted by its local partner Aqua-Farms Organization and technical advisor Yahya Mgawe.

• Purpose
  The United Republic of Tanzania Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries wanted to use the Comprehensive Traceability Principles and Pathway guidance to initiate the development of an eCDT program for the Kilwa District octopus fishery that would provide ecological, social, and economic benefits.

• Process
  SALT, in collaboration with The United Republic of Tanzania Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries and local partners Aqua-Farms Organization and Yahya Mgawe, followed Pathway guidance to identify stakeholders, conduct a gap analysis, and host a three-day co-design event, which will all inform the future comprehensive eCDT program. This process and findings from these activities aided the development of a strategy for eCDT design and implementation.

• Outcome
  Kilwa District octopus fishery stakeholders created a shared vision, identified their goals and priorities for a comprehensive eCDT program, and built a multi-stakeholder network with political buy-in. An eCDT strategy, rooted in the Principles guidance, was developed and disseminated to continue guiding stakeholders through the Design and Implementation Pathway phases.

Vietnam is one of the largest seafood exporters in the world, and its fisheries industry accounts for approximately 4% of the country’s exports. The fisheries industry creates 4.7 million jobs, and around 8.5 million people derive their main income directly or indirectly from fisheries. 

Since 2020, SALT has partnered with Vietnam’s Marinelife Conservation and Community Development (MCD) to conduct learning events and knowledge capture to inform Vietnam’s National eCDT Guidelines and Roadmap. Building on the existing momentum, SALT continues to work with MCD with support from Vietnam Tuna Association (VINATUNA) to support Vietnam’s journey to develop and implement an electronic catch documentation and traceability program nationwide.

• Purpose:
  SALT partnered with Vietnam’s Marinelife Conservation and Community Development (MCD) and Vietnam Tuna Association (VINATUNA) to conduct learning events and knowledge capture to inform Vietnam’s National eCDT Guidelines and Roadmap.

• Process:
  MCD and VINATUNA conducted an extensive gap analysis to understand the current landscape and assessed how the Traceability Principles can be incorporated into ongoing traceability initiatives.

• Outcome:
  Over 60 stakeholders from the government, industry, fishers, port representatives, labor organizations, and NGOs participated in the final workshop in  Binh Dinh. There, the government requested that MCD, VINATUNA, and the fisheries union to serve as a task force to support the government in achieving ecological, social, and economic goals through achieving a comprehensive traceability program.

• Purpose
  SANIPES, the National Fishery Health Agency of Peru, wanted to create a traceability program to better track the health and safety of seafood.

• Process
  It commissioned a “Sector Situational Analysis” to evaluate traceability readiness in Peru, leveraging the Principles and Pathway to conduct a gap analysis of the project. 
• Outcome
  Identified gaps were used to inform a plan for strengthening the traceability system, and the government moved forward with socialization and implementation.

• Purpose
  promote interoperability between platforms used by small-scale fishers, improve technological prowess and administrative capacity of small-scale fishers.
• Process
  conducted line-by-line assessment of the Principles and Pathway and other design principles to inform the design of the PescaData mobile application.
• Outcome
  COBI used 75% of the Principles in the design and implementation of PescaData (with another 16% partially considered), which promoted its initiative to achieve interoperability of PescaData with existing platforms to provide holistic digital services to fishers.

• Purpose
  SALT partnered with the FAO Blue Ports Initiative (BPI) to highlight the role of fishing ports in establishing effective supply chain traceability and addressing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
• Process
  SALT, the FAO BPI, and the Ecuadorian Chamber of Industrialists and Tuna Processors (CEIPA) co-hosted a regional capacity building workshop in Manta, Ecuador to promote exchange on traceability and port management practices across Latin American countries 
• Outcome
  Over 80 stakeholders from 8 LAC countries participated (72% from Ecuador), with primary representation from government (43%) and industry (24%) stakeholders. Through working groups, participants identified challenges and proposed concrete actions to improve traceability in fishing ports, including actions related to being inclusive about involving parties in traceability processes, interoperability, further capacity building, strengthening port infrastructure and connectivity, and conducting an in-depth review of national regulations to ensure mandatory compliance with traceability and quality control standards.

Although over 50% of seafood produced in the Philippines comes from aquaculture, most workers in the seafood industry are registered as municipal fisheries (small-scale fisheries), highlighting the close connection between small-scale fisheries and the livelihood of coastal communities.

In 2020, SALT staff visited the Philippines to participate in the USAID Oceans closing event, where they learned about the Philippines’ efforts around designing and piloting an electronic traceability program for tuna fisheries. In this multi-year project, the Philippines government, NGOs, USAID, trade associations from the private sector, technology providers, and fishers came together to build an electronic traceability program collaboratively. SALT kept in touch with stakeholders from this project to continue learning from this successful public-private partnership model.

Indonesia’s fisheries industry directly involves 2.8 million households and provides 54% of Indonesia’s animal protein needs. Additionally, 10% of global seafood commodities are supplied by Indonesia, highlighting the important role that Indonesian fisheries play in the global economy.

In 2020, a local NGO, Yayasan Masyarakat dan Perikanan Indonesia (MDPI), and Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) hosted a co-design workshop to discuss the development and implementation of national electronic catch documentation and traceability platform known as STELINA under SALT’s small grantee program.

Seafood production in the LAC region has grown substantially in the past few decades. Although the major contribution to this region’s total landings comes from pelagic species landed by industrial fisheries, small-scale artisanal fisheries support many coastal communities and livelihoods in the region. 

In 2021, SALT hosted multiple regional-focused workshops to identify barriers to implementing electronic traceability programs and started to support regional coordination between LAC NGOs, donors, regional USAID Missions, and governments. Through that work and connections, SALT identified multiple opportunities for engagement in Latin America, especially in Peru, Mexico, and Ecuador, where governments and partners are interested in or currently working on traceability efforts for their seafood sector.