Better traceability in a notoriously opaque seafood industry could save our oceans, experts say.
Millions of people worldwide depend on seafood to survive. An estimated 450 million people get their primary source of food from the ocean, and according to the World Bank, fishing makes up at least 10 percent of the global economy.
But for all its popularity and importance, the seafood industry’s supply chain is notoriously opaque, complex and plagued with problems, including illegal fishing and seafood fraud, which can seriously deplete fish populations and harm marine habitats.
Seafood lovers often have no idea where their fish or shrimp were caught , and even whether or not their snapper was the real McCoy.
Thanks to improved technology, together with the efforts of businesses, nonprofits and governments, however, “ocean-to-table” visibility is fast becoming a reality. And this, experts say, may help save our ailing seas.
Other traceability tools and services have emerged in recent years to help consumers have more insight into the seafood they’re eating.
Conservation organization Ecotrust, for instance, has launched a traceability software platform called ThisFish that allows fisherman to attach tracking codes to fish they catch. Consumers can then use their smartphone, tablet or computer to read the code, and learn exactly where the fish came from and the people who harvested it.
Despite progress in this area, however, traceability in the seafood industry is still in its infancy. Paper-based tracing is still commonplace, and in remote areas where some fishermen work, the internet or even cellphone connection can be hard to come by.
Some information is “theoretically there but it’s almost impossible to access and difficult to verify,” Timothy Moore, an advisor for the U.S. Agency for International Development, told USA Today.
Still, it seems change is underway ― and it’s not just in seafood but in the food industry as a whole.
In 2014, Allied Market Research said the market for food traceability products and technologies would grow to an estimated $14.1 billion by 2019.“Food traceability is becoming a norm for all food producers across the globe as a result of consumer demands and government regulations concerning food safety,” the company wrote. This, experts say, is great news for the world’s oceans ― and for the people who rely on them to survive. Depleted fish stocks, for example, could bounce back if destructive and illegal practices are curbed, Gustavsson of Oceana told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“If we do all the right things now,” he said, “in 10 years we will have twice as much fish in the ocean globally.”
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