# Trace fish catches across supply chains

> The Tracy project consortium, including researchers led by A. Shamsuzzoha, developed a distributed ledger system on the Ethereum blockchain to document fish catches and supply-chain events in a tamper-proof manner. The solution enables fisheries and downstream stakeholders to provide digital proofs of origin and verify adherence to sustainable harvesting regulations. This transparency helps counter illegal fishing practices and allows small-scale operators to meet demanding export standards.

**Sector:** Primary sector · **Industry:** Fisheries · **Organisation:** Tracy project consortium (research & industry partners, incl. authors A. Shamsuzzoha et al.) · **Maturity level:** Pilot

Canonical URL: https://www.sapientblock.com/en/use-cases/tracy-project-consortium-fischfaenge-entlang-lieferkette-rueckverfolgen

## Documentation status

- **Project status:** Pilot
- **Evidence:** Evidence medium
- **Editorial review:** pending

## Description

In the Tracy project, a consortium of industry and research partners led by researchers around A. Shamsuzzoha developed a system for seamless traceability of seafood based on the Ethereum blockchain. The solution enables actors in the fisheries sector to digitally and immutably record catch volumes, species and fishing areas. This allows downstream traders and regulatory authorities to verify without media breaks whether catches come from legal and sustainable sources.

The fishing industry worldwide faces challenges from overfishing, illegal fishing and strict international import laws demanding transparent evidence. The Tracy project consortium addresses this problem with a decentralised platform where catch information is anchored as transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. The consortium demonstrated in a pilot project how events along the supply chain from initial recording at sea to the wholesaler can be shared tamper-proof. This distributed ledger architecture eliminates reliance on central intermediaries, significantly strengthening the integrity of origin data. Smaller fisheries particularly benefit as they can prove regulatory export requirements of foreign target markets with less bureaucratic effort.

## Benefits

- Faster processing of freight inspections and certificate checks
- Reduced risk of reputational damage from purchasing illegal catches
- Reliable transparency about the sustainable origin of purchased fish products
- Forgery-proof recording of origin and catch data
- Simplified proof for international export and import regulations
- Increased transparency to combat illegal and unregulated fishing
- Less manual documentation effort in catch reporting
- Clearly structured data entry processes at landing sites

## Challenges

- Need for technical integration of existing inventory management systems of all parties involved
- Limited internet connectivity at sea complicates continuous real-time synchronization
- Variable transaction costs on public blockchain networks such as Ethereum
- Training needs for onboard personnel and fishermen when switching to digital recording systems

## Technology foundation

The solution uses the public Ethereum blockchain as a tamper-proof distributed ledger to decentralise verification and transparently archive transactions relating to catch volumes, times and handover points.

## Sources

- [Blockchain-enabled traceability system for the sustainable fishing industry](https://osuva.uwasa.fi/bitstreams/cd221cf3-f63f-46de-a0ea-33d2caed0c9b/download)
- [Blockchain-enabled traceability system for the sustainable fishing industry](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09537325.2023.2233632)