Sustainable seafood: advances in traceability, assessment, monitoring and resource management

Abstract

This review presents a synopsis of advances in some techniques and technologies that support seafood traceability while addressing some of the complexities currently challenging the integration necessary to coordinate commercial, national and international efforts in achieving seafood sustainability. These advances rely on tools such as blockchain data handling, eDNA or eRNA (together ‘eNA’) sampling, DNA metabarcoding, artificial intelligence and mobile applications. The microbiota associated with seafood organisms can also be monitored using eNA, to enable detection and management of any potential pathogenic developments in wild or aquaculture stocks. For successful and efficient traceability, it is necessary to guarantee data reliability and to support regulatory auditing. To ensure sustainability, however, also requires sampling, monitoring and assessments of the resource status as well as appropriate management. Effective traceability of seafood-related products will also help to resolve other problems, such as endangered species entering supply chains for aquaculture feed. Considering the still large proportion of seafood that is currently obtained and processed illegally, there is a pressing need for coherent local, national and international policies rooted in shared goals among stakeholders and supported by even-handed enforcement. This has been recently facilitated through a trend to shift liability from fishers to importers, and onwards throughout the value chain. In hand with these regulatory changes, the technologies described here will play a central role in achieving the vision for sustainable seafood supplies by the end of this decade.