Study plugs knowledge gap in seafood traceability

A new study has thrown a spotlight on the network of fish taxis or 'reefers' – refrigerated cargo vessels that function as mobile ports for fishing boats – which are thought to be a weak link in traceability of the seafood supply chain.

Researchers from the Stockholm Resilience Centre in Sweden and Stanford Centre for Ocean Solutions in the US say they have created a database of the owners, operators, and flags of reefers, which are involved in the transshipment of catches from fishing vessels – part of the supply chain often criticised for "opacity and poor governance."

They identified 569 individual reefers, with just 324 owners, that are responsible for all transshipment of fish worldwide and reveal the dominance of Russian and Chinese players, who account for 26% and 20% of the global fleet, respectively. Considering the volumes of seafood that are transshipped, this is a surprisingly low and very manageable number of actors

In fact, just 10 of these owners account for almost a quarter of all transshipment events globally, said the team. Their work is published in the journal Science.

The work is a "major step for more transparency," according to lead author Frida Bengtsson of the Stockholm Resilience Centre, who noted that transshipment – which covers transfers of people, spare parts, and fuel as well as catches – is associated with illegal activities. Those can include the transfer of illegally caught species and the obscurement of the origin of seafood to bypass restrictions.

To give a sense of the scale of the activity, it has been calculated that nearly a third of global tuna catch (worth $10.4bn) is transhipped annually,

"Understanding who the beneficial owner of a vessel is provides new leverage and opportunity for improved governance and oversight of this practice," said Bengtsson. If we work with these key actors and get them to improve their operations, we could quickly improve the traceability and sustainability of seafood."

The new research has also mapped where in the ocean reefer owners operate their vessels, the gear used by the fishing vessels they meet, and the flags involved. All this data can now be freely accessed and visualised using an online tool.

This unprecedented transparency can become a key tool for NGOs, insurance companies, and financial actors interested in creating stronger incentives for sustainable behaviours at sea, said the authors.

Photo by Eddie Blair on Unsplash