Transparent Fish Catch Accounting with Blockchain
Sector: Primary sector · Industry: Fisheries · Organisation: SiLKe · Maturity level: Pilot
SiLKe digitalizes traceability in food and fish supply chains using smart contracts on a blockchain platform. Participating actors can record catch, inspection, and delivery data in a tamper-proof manner and document processes along the chain in an automated way. The research project ran from 01.06.2019 to 31.08.2022 and resulted in a functional demonstrator.
Documentation status
- Project status: Pilot
- Evidence: Evidence high
- Editorial review: Ufuk Avci, 12 July 2026
Description
The SiLKe project – "Secure Food Chain through the Application of Blockchain Technology" – was carried out as a publicly funded research consortium project within the framework of German security research funding (SiFo) from June 2019 to August 2022. The aim was to develop an IT solution using blockchain and smart contracts that enables seamless and tamper-proof traceability of food – including fish products – along the entire supply chain. At the end of the project, a functional demonstrator was produced, showing how the SiLKe solution can support transparency, tamper-proofing and more targeted recall actions in practice.
SiLKe stands for "Secure Food Chain through the Application of Blockchain Technology" and was a research consortium project that ran from June 2019 to August 2022, involving, among others, the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology (FIT) and Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences. During the project, requirements from all participants were first gathered, an overall architecture modelled and a specification document developed; subsequently, a blockchain network for specific food use cases was implemented and supplemented with specialised applications for visualising and analysing chain information. The blockchain solution relies on the fact that no central "third party" is needed, which significantly hinders falsification and strengthens mutual trust between the chain links. Specifically, the solution can be applied to use cases such as documenting catch data in fisheries, where origin, catch quantity and transfer are recorded tamper-proof and made accessible to all authorised actors. The project concluded with a demonstrator illustrating the solution's potential; however, proof of large-scale productive use in the fisheries sector is not available.
Perspectives
B2B — organisations perspective
For companies along the fisheries and food supply chain, SiLKe offers the possibility to document data on catch, processing and delivery automatically and tamper-proof, without relying on a central platform. This facilitates compliance with legal traceability requirements and enables targeted and thus more cost-effective responses in the event of recalls instead of blanket product withdrawals.
B2C — consumers perspective
Consumers can trust that origin and catch information on fish products is verifiable and not falsified due to increased transparency in the fish supply chain. Indirectly, this strengthens confidence in food safety and supports the purchase of sustainably traded fish products.
Employees perspective
Employees in fisheries, logistics and quality control must integrate new digital recording processes into their daily work and familiarise themselves with the requirements of the blockchain network. At the same time, repetitive manual documentation tasks can be reduced through automated recording via smart contracts, allowing focus on higher-value control activities.
Benefits
General
- Seamless and tamper-proof traceability of fish products along the entire supply chain
- Accelerated and more targeted recall actions in food safety issues through clear batch identification
- Strengthening public trust in the safety and origin of food products
- Decentralised architecture without a central trusted authority reduces risks of manipulation
B2B — organisations
- Simplified compliance with legal traceability obligations through automated documentation
- Reduction of economic damage through more precise, less blanket product recalls
- Transparency towards trading partners and authorities without additional manual effort
B2C — consumers
- Verifiable origin information increases trust in the quality of fish products
Employees
- Automated documentation via smart contracts relieves employees of repetitive recording tasks
- Clear digital processes improve traceability of responsibilities in daily work
Challenges
General
- The willingness of all supply chain actors to participate in the blockchain network is a prerequisite for the system's effectiveness.
- Complex technical implementation and lack of standardisation in blockchain solutions for the food sector complicate entry.
- The concrete transfer from the research demonstrator to productive operation in the fisheries sector has not yet been demonstrated.
B2B — organisations
- Integration of existing IT systems and data interfaces of various actors requires considerable coordination effort.
- Unresolved questions about data responsibility, access rights and data protection within the consortium can delay implementation.
Employees
- Employees must be trained for new digital recording processes, which initially requires time and resources.
Technology foundation
The SiLKe project relies on blockchain technology with smart contracts to secure food supply chains without a central authority. The decentralized architecture makes data falsification detectable and enables seamless, automated documentation along the entire supply chain. The specific blockchain platform (e.g. Hyperledger Fabric, Ethereum or a proprietary solution) was not specified in the publicly available project materials.
Implementation examples
SiLKe – Demonstrator for blockchain-supported traceability in the food and fish supply chain
In the food and fish supply chain, there was a lack of a tamper-proof, decentralized solution for seamless traceability that operates without a central trusted authority and enables targeted rather than blanket recalls in case of food issues.
The SiLKe research consortium project developed a demonstrator from 2019 to 2022 showing how blockchain technology with smart contracts can enable tamper-proof and seamless traceability in food and fish supply chains. The consortium from science and industry developed the overall architecture, blockchain network and visualisation applications.
The SiLKe project – "Secure food chain through application of blockchain technology" – was funded under the German security research programme (SiFo) and ran from 01.06.2019 to 31.08.2022. Partners included the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology (FIT) and Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences; the project was set up as a consortium of institutions from science and industry. During the project, requirements were gathered, an overall architecture modelled, a blockchain network implemented for specific food use cases, and SiLKe applications developed for visualising and analysing supply chain data. Finally, a demonstrator showed how the solution can make food supply chains safer through transparency, tamper resistance and more targeted recalls. Productive use at a specific fishery or a large-scale rollout are not documented in the publicly available project materials.
The complexity of modern food supply chains with many different actors makes tamper-proof, end-to-end documentation difficult; SiLKe addresses this through a blockchain architecture where no single party acts as a central authority and all transactions are traceably recorded.
Tags
Supply chain, Smart contract, Traceability, Food safety, Tamper protection, Research project