An innovative pilot project called ‘Catch to Batch’ has successfully developed tools to enhance the traceability of Scottish caught pelagic fish.
Lack of traceability in fisheries is a problem that can undermine market access and prices when buyers and consumers do not have confidence in the sustainability credentials of fisheries. The Catch to Batch pilot project developed a traceability solution for mackerel and herring by linking previously unconnected data streams from each individual haul during a fishing trip right through to the production data generated during onshore processing. In short, Catch to Batch is about traceability in the data collected on pelagic fish from when they are caught, to processing in factories and distribution by wholesalers.
The pilot project involved the Scottish pelagic vessels Altaire and Artemis, Northbay Pelagic factory in Peterhead, Interfish Producer Organisation, Sainsbury’s, The Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST), the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association, Verifact, Shetland UHI, and Cefas.
The onboard information is gathered from the self-sampling of fish that vessels already undertake from each haul as part of the Scottish Pelagic Industry Science Data Collection Programme. Other key catch information is sourced from the mandatory data reporting each boat is required to submit. The factory processing elements cover the data flows that already exist for quality assurance, which is traced through the unique batch code generated for each landing.
The project has also developed an online platform for entering and recording vessel haul and biological data, as well as its tank plan, which quantifies the storage of each haul in the vessel’s refrigerated seawater fish storage tanks. This information is used to develop a new pre-landing report, where the vessel sends information on the haul details, fish sizes and tank plan to the factory prior to landing. In return, the factory provides the vessel with a Catch Quality Report for each landing, which is linked back to the tank plan to help vessels better understand factors that may affect catch quality.
Dr Steven Mackinson, Chief Scientific Officer for the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association, said: “The outputs of this pilot project demonstrate that linking vessel and factory data is possible, resulting in benefits for scientific data collection, traceability and understanding catch quality.”
Andrew Pillar of Interfish, one of the project partners, said: “The pilot project has reduced the burden of tracebacks and enhanced the value for those involved through the implementation of efficient data recording and handling processes. But perhaps most importantly, it is an outward demonstration of the responsibility and sustainability credentials of the Scottish pelagic sector that has provided sellers with a story to differentiate their offering from others, which they may use to give consumers the confidence and peace of mind that they know the source of their product.”
David Parker, Head of Fisheries and Aquaculture at Sainsbury’s, said: “We are delighted this fantastic pilot project has come to fruition. We source globally and this is one of the best traceability regimes I have seen in fisheries to date.”
With support of the Scottish Pelagic Processors’ Association, Producer Organisations and buyers of Scottish pelagic fish, future steps for Catch to Batch include developing plans to scale-up this pilot project to include all Scottish pelagic factories and vessels involved in the Scottish Pelagic Industry Science Data Collection Programme.