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*** Más abajo, versión en español *** As 2017 drew to a close, we continued our work with the artisanal common hake fishery in Chile. (Read about our previous trips here and here.) Building from our initial research phase, we are now beginning to co-design interventions with partners on-the-ground. Our model puts a lot of emphasis on ensuring we are listening and learning from those who live and work in the system, testing and validating ideas with the many local actors who have put so much time…

Traceability is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight. The transition from paper to electronic traceability systems is a journey for any company. Several factors make this process especially difficult for the seafood industry, including the complexities of seafood supply chains, numerous product types, and concerns about data sharing and security. These system-level barriers mean that even the most motivated companies struggle to adopt traceability technology, and as a whole, the seafood industry lags behind most other markets. Alanna Gisondo of FishWise walks participants through the…

A collaboration of four NGOs with strong presence in the seafood traceability space--FishWise, Future of Fish, the IFT’s Global Food Traceability Center, and WWF--will be leading a seafood traceability workshop at the Seafood Expo North America (SENA) on what is required for implementing seafood traceability systems. This hands-on training session will present attendees with available tools and outputs from their collaboration (organized under the Oceans and Seafood Markets Initiative), as well as defining a pathway to achieving full-chain seafood traceability. During the workshop, attendees…

*** Más abajo, versión en español *** “It’s complicated.” When we began researching the common hake fishery in Chile, that’s what we were told, again and again. Now, a new exposé has helped highlight just how complicated solving sustainable seafood can get. This fall, the Chilean investigative journalism program Misión Encubierta (‘Covert Mission’) aired "Algo Huele Mal" (“Something Smells Bad”), a hard-hitting piece exposing illegal and bad practices in the Terminal Pesquero Metropolitano, or TPM. A sprawling complex of warehouses, the TPM acts as a giant chokepoint, funneling…

Touched by Argentina’s tragic social protests of December 2001, Iván Greco set out to study real-world economics to better understand the roles and responsibilities of economic development. From cities to rural areas and back again, Iván has described urban segregations in Uppsala neighborhoods in Sweden (where he got his Master's in Sustainable Development) and socio-environmental conflicts and asymmetries of power between artisanal fishers and industrial corporations in the Center North and Center South of Chile. He has also participated in government teams in Argentina,…

Earlier this summer, our Future of Fish founder Cheryl Dahle handed the Executive Director reins over to Peter Battisti. To mark the occasion, we asked Peter and about his vision for the organization and what we might expect from Future of Fish and the seafood industry in the coming years. Q: What do you see as the most important issues of the future, and how is Future of Fish addressing them? The issue that I see as most pressing for all of us who…

Want to implement electronic traceability in seafood supply chains? Grab a hair net, some rubber boots, and tie on a smock. Rather than beginning with the technology, our Global Operations team can share that transitioning seafood supply chains from data-poor to data-rich starts with getting your feet wet—literally.   This is how we found ourselves on a recent November morning following a very-patient Quality Control manager around the floor of his processing plant in Belize City. Jason works for The National Fishermen Cooperative Society…

Empowering small-scale fisheries on a global stage *** Más abajo, versión en español *** Earlier this month, Future of Fish Research Associate Iván Greco attended the 4th Baja California Sustainable Fisheries Management Forum in Ensenada, Mexico, hosted by EDF-Mexico and the Baja California state government. Focused on “Innovation and Sustainability: Fishing Improvement Opportunities for Baja California,” the event was a fantastic venue for sharing and learning how Mexico’s small fishing communities can compete on the global stage. Baja California is one of Mexico’s more…

Future of Fish was invited to speak at our first National Bioneers Conference in October in Marin, California. Founded in 1990, Bioneers “has acted as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges.” This year’s theme was “Uprising” and focused on models and strategies for climate action, ending extreme inequality, building democracy, racial and gender equity, women’s leadership, and restoring land, water, air, and biodiversity. Marah Hardt, Future of Fish’s Research Director,…

Traceability is a powerful tool for suppliers and consumers alike, so why isn’t it more widespread? To answer this question, we set out to better understand the challenges that keep seafood supply chains from adopting full-chain traceability. We're proud to announce that our findings have been published in the August 2017 issue of the Journal of Food Science, alongside parallel research from our partners in the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's Ocean and Seafood Markets Initiative (OSMI): FishWise, Future of Fish, the Global Food Traceability…

Introduction Selecting a traceability technology provider — or better yet, a group of them — can be a daunting step for any seafood supplier. That’s why we were thrilled to have veterans of the traceability implementation process join us for a panel called “Finding the One” at the 2017 Seafood Summit in Seattle, Washington. In this first-ever all-women panel, representatives from International Pole & Line Foundation (IPLNF), Masyarakat dan Perikanan Indonesia (MDPI) and The Nature Conservancy Belize (TNC Belize) shared their unique business drivers,…

Traceability is a powerful tool for suppliers and consumers alike, so why isn’t it more widespread? We set out to better understand the roadblocks keeping seafood supply chains from adopting full-chain traceability. Drawing on our relationships with seafood processors, suppliers, and fishers, we examined the underlying factors that need to be overcome in order to implement traceability technology. We're proud to announce that our findings have been published in the August 2017 issue of the Journal of Food Science, alongside parallel research from our partners…