A salmon farm in western Norway operated by Nova Sea, which joined the Norwegian Seafood Trust, a national seafood tracking network enabled by multina

Blockchain expands its aquaculture presence with shrimp and salmon

The following is an excerpt from an article published by Responsible Seafood Advocate:

Emerging technology purports to reduce fraud and differentiate products, but producers can also use the tool to reach and educate consumers

For years, aquaculture businesses have weighed the merits of adopting blockchain technology — a digital method of securely storing and sharing swaths of data. Such an innovative tool has potential to advance the aquaculture industry, as it enables a distributed ledger to record product movements and other data, allowing for more efficient and accurate traceability of seafood sources.

This IBM infographic details the supply chain points that can be tracked and secured with blockchain technology.(click image to enlarge)

With sustainability, animal welfare and food quality increasingly top of mind with consumers, blockchain offers one way for suppliers of premium products to differentiate themselves from the competition. But as some suppliers and experts note, deploying the technology presents challenges and blockchain is only part of the solution to eliminating food fraud.

In a June release, the Sustainable Shrimp Partnership (SSP) said its members were expanding their use of blockchain technology. Separately, salmon producer Nova Sea announced in June it was moving toward implementing blockchain in another potential sign that more aquaculture producers could embrace this emerging technology.

‘It’s all about transparency’

n June, SSP — a sustainability initiative led by Ecuadoran shrimp producers — announced that Grupo Nueva Pescanova, one of its members, had expanded the use of blockchain technology to all of its seafood products. This demonstrated a commitment to ensuring the quality and provenance of its products, said Pamela Nath, director at the SSP, who noted this type of product assurance was necessary.

“It’s all about transparency, which is needed in the shrimp industry,” said Nath.

To maximize blockchain deployment efforts, SSP developed an application that allows consumers to access key information from each product and track its journey from beginning to end by scanning a Quick Response (QR) code. Surveys from GlobeScan cited by SSP indicate that consumers want such traceability information, which Nath said can yield a key benefit for the industry: an improved consumer connection.

“The technology also allows us to highlight the fundamental role of the producers, which most of the time, due to the complexity of the supply chain, goes unnoticed by the consumers,” Nath said.   

Sustainable Shrimp Partnership members use blockchain technology in shrimp production to increase awareness of their environmental and social practices. Photo courtesy of SSP.

Nath added that SSP’s members have been pioneers in implementing blockchain technology in shrimp production, part of a drive to increase awareness of the environmental and social practices of the organization’s members. Since these companies are trailblazers in this field, the rollout process has been a learning experience for everyone involved. On one hand, technology providers must get up to speed on the industry, the complexity of its supply chains and traceability requirements. Meanwhile, the industry must master the technology and determine how to align business to blockchain requirements.

The successful results of these efforts may benefit more than SSP members. “This learning experience, from both sides, has given the opportunity to other seafood industries to join the technology. We are sure that there will be many more to come,” Nath said.(continues...)

Author / Source: Hank Hogan/Responsible Seafood Advocate | Read the full article by clicking the link here

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