ABALOBI’s vision is to cultivate thriving, equitable and climate-resilient small-scale fishing communities — through financial inclusion, collective social entrepreneurship and data-driven fisheries rebuilding. We support data collection and skills-building with fisher communities, NGOs and governments. Through our Fish With A Story platform, we connect fisher groups and cooperatives with fair local and global markets, as well as linked financial services. Our approach stimulates co-management, implements fisheries improvement programmes, and uses innovative data, traceability and market technologies to poise small-scale fishers for social, economic and ecological sustainability. We believe in participatory strategies for fisheries rebuilding that consider ocean life and livelihoods.
Why GDST?
ABALOBI believes that a comprehensive seafood traceability system should be designed so that data capture drives tangible benefits across a small-scale fishery’s ecological, social, and economic components. The GDST are a key partner in assisting ABALOBI in achieving this objective.
Why Digital Seafood Traceability Matters
ABALOBI’s vision is to develop thriving, equitable, climate change resilient and sustainable small-scale fishing communities, through financial inclusion, collective social entrepreneurship and a data-driven approach to fisheries rebuilding. We stimulate co-management and implement fisheries improvement programmes through our data, traceability, market platforms, and programmes that position small-scale fishers for social, economic, and ecological sustainability.
Contributing to the GDST Standard
ABALOBI enables small-scale fishing communities to activate Community-Supported Fisheries for fair market access, transparent supply chains and broader food security. For this to be scalable, there needs to be a layered marketplace with multiple buyer channels, including those operating in global supply chains. For this reason, ABALOBI would like to partner with the GDST to ensure that the traceability data collected is relevant to these international market actors.
Impact of GDST on the Business
ABALOBI has used the publicly available GDST resources to start the process of benchmarking our data elements and database structures against best practice standards. In this way the GDST has already started to impact the way ABALOBI implement traceability; however, it is time to dive deeper and unlock benefits from the use of GDST resources such as the capability test and the completeness tool as well as contributing actively to the continued development and evolution of the GDST as a partner organisation.
Long-Term Goals
The ABALOBI suite of fisher-driven programmes relates to data collection and application, seafood traceability, fully documented fisheries, fair and transparent supply chains, skills development, community cohesion, and entrepreneurship. These elements are critical precursors to longer-term fisheries improvement actions and a transition to triple-bottom-line sustainability. The GDST is a vital long-term partner in ensuring that the ABALOBI first-mile traceability and digital market remain internationally relevant and interoperable by assessing them against global best-practice standards for traceability.
Advice for Potential GDST Partners
Small-scale fishers and fishing communities face various environmental, social, and economic challenges. A lack of fisheries data for appropriate management decisions and traceability data to facilitate exchange between value chain actors often amplifies these challenges. ABALOBI advises actors in value chains that touch small-scale fishers’ livelihoods to partner with them to address these challenges head-on and draw on resources from organisations such as the GDST.
You can learn more about ABALOBI at: ABALOBI Website
Explore the benefits of GDST partnership at: GDST Get Involved