Towards improved traceability in the seafood industry

Cusa, M

Abstract

Demand for seafood products is increasing worldwide, contributing to ever more complex supply chains and hampering traceability efforts. Despite marked improvements in seafood traceability and transparency, the fisheries industry is still victim to fraudulent behaviours and malpractice. This thesis examines some of the societal factors that may affect seafood traceability and explores DNA-based methods that have the potential to greatly improve the continuous and regular monitoring of transparency and traceability along the supply chain. Each chapter is dedicated to a given driver which might allow mislabelling to persevere (i.e. lack of consumer knowledge, shortcomings of species identification methods, absence of a framework for the use of point-of-origin detection tools) and explores some of the associated solutions that could help strengthen the monitoring of seafood products, verify compliance, and tackle fraud in the seafood industry. Educational tools and DNA-based methods can empower both consumers and enforcement officers respectively in the quest to combat fraudulent practices in the seafood industry; yet most enforcement bodies still struggle to identify which tools to work with. This highlights a potential mismatch between what the scientific community proposes and what the users really need. This thesis attempts to bridge the increasing demand for simple traceability and transparency tools with some of the existing technologies and proposes frameworks and strategies for their adoptions in practical contexts. It emphasises that if interested parties invest in coordinated efforts to develop robust and comprehensive authentication methods for an increasing number of commercial species, the benefits would largely outweigh the costs. Marine resources are under tremendous pressure and the need for good stewardship is now critical. Effective tools do exist, and it is crucial to demonstrate their practical application and expose the reach they may have within the fisheries and seafood industry.

Citation

Cusa, M. Towards improved traceability in the seafood industry. (Thesis). University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Aug 2, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 2, 2022
• Additional Information: Projects : SEATRACES
• Award Date: Jun 1, 2022