Traceability Solutions for Seafood Month

Do you know the story behind the seafood on your plate? Is there a chance that it was caught by illegal fishing practices? Did the fishery support ethical labor practices or slave labor? Was the seafood label accurate, or is this a completely different fish than you thought you purchased? 

This week for National Seafood Month, FishWise is featuring stories on how tracking and verifying data along each point of the seafood supply chain may help to solve both environmental and social issues in fisheries and aquaculture. 

The journey your seafood takes from bait to plate often ends up being a complicated tale. Traceability allows one to track and verify information about the origin and journey of seafood products as they pass through the supply chain. Fortunately, traceability has the power to not only give consumers confidence about their seafood decisions, but it also allows businesses to avoid sourcing illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) products. The ability to confirm and track data is an essential tool in fisheries management that helps to ensure threatened species are protected. And traceability also helps support equitable labor practices too, which we will talk about more next week! Traceability, simply put, increases the trust and accuracy of data across seafood supply chains. 

The Opportunity

The Seafood Alliance for Legality and Traceability (SALT) is a global community of governments, seafood industry, and non-governmental organizations working together to find solutions in seafood traceability. Visit the new SALT website for inspirational traceability stories, innovative tools and resources, and to get involved with other experts across the globe. 

Traceability is a key part of the solution in ensuring the seafood on your plate is responsibly sourced or harvested. Follow FishWise on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram and learn more about how to #BeFishWise during Seafood Month and all throughout the year.