Benefits Evaluator for Seafood Traceability

Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in the adoption of electronic catch documentation and traceability (eCDT) programs for seafood. To maximize the effectiveness of these programs and ensure their sustained adoption, it is crucial to tap into the social, ecological, and economic benefits they can provide. To facilitate the realization of these benefits, SALT partnered with Future of Fish to develop the Benefits Evaluator for Seafood Traceability (BEST) tool. This tool serves as a guide for traceability practitioners, helping them measure and evaluate the effectiveness of eCDT programs in harnessing social, ecological, and economic benefits.

By entering specific details about your eCDT program into the BEST, such as its objectives, hardware, software, and the data being collected, the tool generates a downloadable monitoring and evaluation plan tailored to your program. This plan helps identify relevant information to collect, determines the optimal timing for data collection, and suggests evaluation methods. By utilizing this plan, you can effectively assess the performance of benefits within your program.

It’s important to note that the BEST tool focuses on metrics connected with Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability Key Data Elements. However, all users are encouraged to adapt the monitoring and evaluation plan provided by the BEST tool to suit their unique circumstances and needs.

The Benefits Evaluator for Seafood Traceability is designed to guide a government official and other traceability practicioners on how to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of an electronic catch documentation and traceability (eCDT) system in addressing its management objectives and associated social, ecological, and economic benefits (“comprehensive”).