Why should we promote the traceability of seafood products? THE NEW POTENTIAL OF FISH INNOVATION: BLOCKCHAIN AND PRODUCT TRACEABILITY The label of a food product represents its “identity card”, an essential element that allows consumers making informed choices. In 2014, the EU Regulation no. 1169/2011 contributed to standardize national laws on the subject of food products labeling. Concurrently, with the entry into force of this regulation, a specific legislation with mandatory provisions was enacted for seafood products.

The term food fraud refers to misconduct that is committed when food is deliberately placed on the market, for profit, with the intention of deceiving the consumers. This is a worldwide plague though the most striking episodes of food fraud have taken place in China.

The pandemic crisis generated by Covid-19 highlighted the potential of digitization in all production sectors, including the agri-food sector. A technological evolution that was accelerated by the need to have effective responses in case of “unpredictable” risks. The digitization of the entire agri-food chain, from primary production to the processing industry and logistics is a priority. Innovative approaches such as Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, mobile apps, robots and artificial intelligence are expected to develop greatly.

WHAT IS THAT? The Blockchain is a computer technology that allows information to be stored in an innovative way. For decades, databases have been used in such a way that information could be overwritten, therefore easy to manipulate. Moreover, it was impossible to keep the record of each overwriting.

In a Blockchain, information is written on “blocks”, which are closed with a cryptographic key so that they can no longer be overwritten. A new “block” must be created for each update. These blocks are not saved in a single computer but duplicated in many independent computers scattered all over the world that work as “validators” of the information contained in each new block. Such information is indelible and unchangeable.

The pandemic crisis generated by Covid-19 highlighted the potential of digitization in all production sectors, including the agri-food sector. A technological evolution that was accelerated by the need to have effective responses in case of “unpredictable” risks. The digitization of the entire agri-food chain, from primary production to the processing industry and logistics is a priority. Innovative approaches such as Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, mobile apps, robots and artificial intelligence are expected to develop greatly.

How to use the Blockchain in the seafood industry arrow_right_alt In a restaurant or a fish market, a “tag” will be enough to show the “identity card” of the seabass, sea bream or lobster we are about to eat In the seafood industry, the integration of the Blockchain technology is particularly effective. The type and origin of the seafood as well as the whole transformation process can be easily controlled and guaranteed.

The development of the Blockchain technology is crucial to reduce fraud in the seafood industry and“reward”non-intensive practices. Responsible consumers will seek for products from areas with sustainable populations. This would mitigate the impact of overfishing. A good news for the Mediterranean, the world’s most overfished sea!

The complete blockchain process in the seafood sector • seafood operators register their catch on the Blockchain network by entering the details required for each batch such as species, weight, time, location, etc.
• once the batch is tagged, the application follows the batch throughout the entire supply chain. The IoT based sensors are attached to various devices (vessels/ ships etc.) enabling real-time monitoring.
• the application transmits data to servers which stores information on the Blockchain.
• all actors operating in the supply chain get real-time information about location and condition of each batch of seafood products.
• the tag is removed at the time of packaging and replaced with a unique QR code.
• when the batches reach the store, their entire journey can be traced by consumers by scanning the QR code. The system stores every piece of information entered at every stage by each supply chain’s actor.

The Blockchain and DNA analysis In the seafood sector, the integration of the Blockchain technology with DNA analysis is particularly effective. The genetic identification of species can be easily performed even when products are processed, finished and packaged ensuring controls at different points of the supply chain.

By including this type of information in the Blockchain system, it is possible to provide seafood consumers with clear, reliable and easily readable data. This increases the transparency of the supply chain and, as a result, the trust of consumers in a given company.

SUREFISH Promote Mediterranean fish by guaranteeing its traceability and authenticity. This is the goal of “Surefish”, the project funded by PRIMA (https://prima-med.org/ ) in 2019. The project covers Italy, Egypt, Lebanon, Spain, and Tunisia. The project ensures the traceability of seafood products in the Mediterranean so as to combat illegal fishing, in particular when it comes to anchovy, grouper, tilapia and bluefin tuna.

Illegal fishing, along with fraud, is a widespread practice that instill untrust not only in consumers but also in companies concerned of their environmental and social responsibility. This represents a serious damage for those coastal Mediterranean countries where the seafood industry provides jobs, income and commercial opportunities.

https://surefish.eu/project1/ The platform Open SC , launched in 2019 by WWF Switzerland and BCG Digital Ventures, allows tracking products from the catch to the shelf by applying a digital tag (RFID). Sensor devices on ships, ports and processing plants will allow uploading data about each single catch to a blockchain. Once the specimen is processed, the RFID tag is replaced by a unique QR tag applied to the package connected to the blockchain. Through their smartphones, consumers can scan the QR tag and find out the entire journey of each specimen.

The global seafood supply chain needs to address the issue of “traceability” in a genuine way in order to address market’s concerns about illegal products. The Blockchain technology holds immense potential to address efficiently such concerns.

The Blockchain technology will change radically traceability for commodities such as seafood. It is a transformative technology and there will be no way back. The companies that will join this revolution will be the beneficiaries while the others will have to struggle to not be driven out of the market.