From Ocean to Table: Ensuring Seafood Traceability

Around the world, seafood production supports more than 600 million livelihoods and feeds more than 3 billion people, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). People eat more aquatic foods than ever – about 21 kg per capita in 2022 – more than double the consumption rate 50 years ago. The demand for seafood is set to continue to grow worldwide, leading to a 20% increase in the supply of aqua products by the year 2030. This is good news considering that aquatic animal foods provide high-quality proteins – 15 percent of animal proteins and 6 percent of total proteins worldwide – and key nutrients including omega-3 fatty acids, minerals and vitamins.

Marine ingredients like fishmeal and fish oil play a pivotal role in the seafood industry. At a time when aquaculture production has surpassed capture fisheries in the provision of aquatic animals to global food systems (FAO, State of the World's fisheries and Aquaculture, 2024), the essential nutrients which marine ingredients provide through aquafeeds to farmed fish are badly needed. In 2020, global aquaculture production was at 87Mt in 2020. To sustain this production, 52Mt feed was used in 2020, using 4.1Mt of fishmeal.

Marine ingredients are produced globally using raw materials that can be whole fish, fish by-products, or a combination of both. By-products, often consisting of offcuts and trimmings from fish initially meant for human consumption, have become a significant source, constituting more than a third of the world's marine ingredient production.

Ensuring traceability of marine ingredients poses a unique challenge due to the diversity of species and the complexity of the supply chain. Thirty-eight per cent of seafood products are traded globally, making those materials one of the most traded commodities. This complexity makes it difficult to identify and segregate by-product material. Traceability is essential for food safety, combating illegal fishing, and verifying species authenticity. However, challenges such as data collection, disparate standards, fraud, technological gaps, and lack of interoperability hinder widespread adoption.

To improve traceability, the seafood industry can look to other industries for standardised processes that enable interoperability. For example, the internet allows devices and services from different providers to communicate seamlessly through standardised communication protocols. Similarly, the seafood industry needs a common language for traceability.

The Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) is an international platform that aims to create global industry standards for seafood traceability. MarinTrust, the leading certification programme for marine ingredients, provides the assurance that marine ingredients are responsibly sourced and produced. Almost half of the world's marine ingredients are certified against the MarinTrust standard. Certificates are granted by third party accredited certification bodies.

Leveraging the GDST framework, MarinTrust also provides assurance regarding responsible traceability. Focusing on enhancing data collection, usage, transfer, and management, the programme collaborates with marine ingredient producers to promote transparency and leadership in the industry, aiming for full innovative traceability.