by Bryan Horsu, Master Student at the
University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands, Wesley Malcorps, PhD Student
at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, UK, Paul van der
Heijden, Founder at MatureDevelopment BV, the Netherlands
A growing population with an increasing appetite for highly nutritious seafood resulted in an increase in global fish consumption from 9.96kg in 1961 until 19.86kg in 2013 (FAO, 2018). Capture fisheries and aquaculture are important contributors to fulfill the growing global demand for seafood (Food and Agriculture Organisation, 2018).
However, both industries are made up of complex global supply chains and are subjected to social and environmental challenges. Increasing consumer awareness and food safety requires increasing traceability and transparency along these supply chains.
This article explores briefly how distributed ledger technology, such as blockchain, could increase the traceability and transparency of the seafood industry.
It starts with a brief explanation of the potential of this technology in the aquaculture sector, in particular the aquafeed sector. Secondly, it will zoom in on the capture fishery sector through a conducted survey at a fishing company in the Netherlands.
Aquaculture, aquafeed and complex global supply chains
Capture fisheries have been close to their production limits and, as a result, the aquaculture industry is growing faster than any other food-producing sector. Large amounts of aquafeed are required in order to sustain this growth rate in the coming decades.
Most life cycle assessments (LCAs) suggest that aquafeed accounts for most of the environmental impact of fed aquaculture production (Little et al., 2018). However, this impact is variable depending on the type and source of the feed ingredients.
Therefore, improved traceability and transparency along the supply chain could provide more accurate insight in the environmental performance and could highlight sustainability issues.
Read more HERE.
A growing population with an increasing appetite for highly nutritious seafood resulted in an increase in global fish consumption from 9.96kg in 1961 until 19.86kg in 2013 (FAO, 2018). Capture fisheries and aquaculture are important contributors to fulfill the growing global demand for seafood (Food and Agriculture Organisation, 2018).
However, both industries are made up of complex global supply chains and are subjected to social and environmental challenges. Increasing consumer awareness and food safety requires increasing traceability and transparency along these supply chains.
This article explores briefly how distributed ledger technology, such as blockchain, could increase the traceability and transparency of the seafood industry.
It starts with a brief explanation of the potential of this technology in the aquaculture sector, in particular the aquafeed sector. Secondly, it will zoom in on the capture fishery sector through a conducted survey at a fishing company in the Netherlands.
Aquaculture, aquafeed and complex global supply chains
Capture fisheries have been close to their production limits and, as a result, the aquaculture industry is growing faster than any other food-producing sector. Large amounts of aquafeed are required in order to sustain this growth rate in the coming decades.
Most life cycle assessments (LCAs) suggest that aquafeed accounts for most of the environmental impact of fed aquaculture production (Little et al., 2018). However, this impact is variable depending on the type and source of the feed ingredients.
Therefore, improved traceability and transparency along the supply chain could provide more accurate insight in the environmental performance and could highlight sustainability issues.
Read more HERE.
The Aquaculturists
This blog is maintained by The Aquaculturists staff and is supported by the
magazine International Aquafeed which is published by Perendale Publishers Ltd
For additional daily news from aquaculture around the world: aquaculture-news
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