On behalf of the Norwegian Seafood Association, Fiskeriforskning in collaboration with SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture and others is involved in a national fish traceability project.
Traceability gives confidence
Norway has already seen the exclusion of fish from certain markets due to lack of documentation.
Fiskeriforskning's project manager Kine Mari Karlsen says: "We see a need to introduce international documentation and traceability requirements to counter things like illegal fishing".
"Documentation systems which can follow food through every link in the production chain are therefore a tool that will become increasingly important in maintaining confidence among customers, authorities and public opinion".
Information follows the product
Two pilot businesses from the retail and wholesale links are participating in the project. Coop showed great interest in the traceability project and has long had close cooperation with one of its seafood suppliers. So the decision was an easy one.
Much is already registered at the company level. The challenge is therefore to associate the information with a given fish product in such a way that it can be easily retrieved later in the value chain, for instance when a product needs to be recalled.
The project, which is being financed by the Fishery and Aquaculture Industry Research Fund, Innovation Norway and participating companies, will conclude by the end of 2008.
