Rollout Strategy to Implement Interoperable Traceability in the Seafood Industry

Abstract

Verifying the accuracy and rigor of data exchanged within and between businesses for the purposes of traceability rests on the existence of effective and efficient interoperable information systems that meet users' needs. Interoperability, particularly given the complexities intrinsic to the seafood industry, requires that the systems used by businesses operating along the supply chain share a common technology architecture that is robust, resilient, and evolves as industry needs change. Technology architectures are developed through engaging industry stakeholders in understanding why an architecture is required, the benefits provided to the industry and individual businesses and supply chains, and how the architecture will translate into practical results. This article begins by reiterating the benefits that the global seafood industry can capture by implementing interoperable chain-length traceability and the reason for basing the architecture on a peer-to-peer networked database concept versus more traditional centralized or linear approaches. A summary of capabilities that already exist within the seafood industry that the proposed architecture uses is discussed; and a strategy for implementing the architecture is presented. The 6-step strategy is presented in the form of a critical path.

Current Barriers to Large‐scale Interoperability of Traceability Technology in the Seafood Sector

“…This project, led by the Institute of Food Technologists’ Global Food Traceability Center (GFTC) is intended to address the growing need for a global, secure, interoperable seafood traceability system by designing a common technology architecture. Details of this work are presented in articles by Bhatt and Gooch (), Bhatt and others (), and Gooch and others () on pages 22 and 45 of this supplement.…”

Development and assessment of blockchain‐IoT‐based traceability system for frozen aquatic product

“…Nowadays, the prevailing monitoring and tracking application of the Internet of things (IoT) significantly improve the supervision efficiency for the aquatic supply chain industry and adds enormous value to that field (Alfian et al, 2020; Badia‐Melis, Mc Carthy, Ruiz‐Garcia, Garcia‐Hierro, & Robla Villalba, 2018; Feng, Chen, Zhou, Rungsardthong, & Zhang, 2019; Košťál, Helebrandt, Belluš, Ries, & Kotuliak, 2019; Peng et al, 2018; Pigini & Conti, 2017; Trektere et al, 2017; Vivaldi et al, 2020). The traceability system mainly relies on the quality and safety data reported by the aquaculture and circulation enterprises themselves, and the data is uploaded to the supervision department, and consumers can query the concerned food quality information through the traceability platform (Bhatt et al, 2016; Gooch, Dent, Sylvia, & Cusack, 2017; Xinqing, Fu, Yongjun, Zhaohui, & Zhang, 2017). However, this one‐way data acquisition and authenticity is still lacking effective verification (Corallo, Latino, Menegoli, & Cataldo, 2020; Grassi, Casiraghi, & Alamprese, 2018; Kumar et al, 2020; Tsang, Choy, Wu, Ho, & Lam, 2019).…”

“…In this article, the proposed traceability management solution aims at fusion and integration of the blockchain and IoT to improve the easy‐perishable aquatic food management during cold chain logistics with more trust and reliable applications (Casino, Kanakaris, Dasaklis, Moschuris, & Rachaniotis, 2019; Gooch et al, 2017; Lin, Wang, Pei, & Wang, 2019). By employing IoT technology, the blockchain possesses all tracing functionalities that covering every link in the aquatic logistics, which comprehensively implements the unified tracing supervision and reliable management.…”