Blockchain in the Seafood Inductry

Lets have an intro before i start to yap about something i find cool for no reason.
So think about all those times you wondered about where your fish from your grilled fish dish came from? If you were to ask the restaurant, they’d probably shrug,coz who tf cares. But some of us do, right? Well, imagine if we could trace that seafood back to its origins—the exact sea it came from and the journey it took to reach your table. Yeah that's where blockchain steps in.

The seafood industry has been dealing with transparency,traceability and sourcing.The new gen of cutomers have much concerns regarding sustainable sourcing of sea food. Blockchain can help us to ensure transparency, traceability through it's well-known features.

Why do we need a blockchain system for this?
Let's understand the different problems in seafood industry

• Fraud and Mislabeling
  About 30% of seafood sold is presented inappropriatel.Often, consumers are tricked into buying expensive seafood, only to end up with a cheaper, lower-quality alternative that looks or tastes similar. This deception can be solved by the blockchain's authenticity ensurement and combatting fraudism.

• Supply Chain Complexity
  Seafood passes through multiple stages before it reaches the consumer, including fishing, transportation, processing, packaging, and distribution. Each of these steps create opportunities for different players for fraud, mislabelling and unsustainable practices.

• Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing
  It's estimated that about 26 million tons of seafood is sourced illegally, unreported and unregulated. These unsustainably sourced seafood can enter the system very easily. Acts like overfishing affects the sea life biodiversity,economic hurdles for lawful fishing practices and threates the marine ecosystems.

• Quality Control and Spoilage
  Seafood can get spoilt very easily, that's why the process of controlling seafood's quality is a tidious task.Improper ways of handling an dmonitoring seafood can lead to contamination, which can lead to serious health risks if consumed. This also leads to wastage of tons of seafood.

• Economic Exploitation
  The fisherwomen/fishermen often get paid much lesser than they deserve. This leads to economic dependency because they are esploited by intermediaries reaping the profits.

How can Blockchain be helpfull?

Well Blockchain has many features that act as a reliable network mechanism. The seafood industry NEEDS traceability, accountability and trasperency.

• End to End Traceabilty
  At each step of the supply chain we can include the practice of digitally recording all the work done. For eg the fiherwomen/men can record the place and estimated time when the seafood was harvested, the end consumers can be provided with a OR code alongside the product, which on scanning will
  give all the necessary information required.

• Ensuring Sustainability
  Blockchain can ensure the sustainable harvesting of seafood through the above mentioned practice of digital records. These records act as a certification about the food being sustainably produced. This way we can incooperate ethical and eco-friendly habits into the industry.

• Empowering Small-Scale Fisherwomen/men
  Blockchain can be used to eliminate any intermediateries between the fishers and the consumer.This way the practise of exploiting small-scale fishers by paying them less amount can be stopped. This can also help to incooperate better trust system between the fishers and the consumers.

• Improving Supply Chain Efficiency
  With real time updates on the blockchain system, stakeholders can track the progress at each level, having control over proper packaging, delivery and reducing wastage due to spoilage.
  We can create smart contracts which will only approve the payment process if certain checkpoints are completed.

Walmart and BT

I was really intriged by the way walmart incooperated blockchain in the supply management system. I did some digging and found out that Walmart collaborated with IBM's food trust platform to integrate BT into its supply chain which made it possible to include transperency and efficiency which further led to gain customer trusts.

Walmart collaborated with Indian seafood processor Sandhya Aqua and U.S.-based supplier Stanley Pearlman Enterprises alongside IBM to initiate a project to tract shrimp produced in India to United States.

How was Walmart benefitted from this?
Well Walmart was able to track the product at each step and thus it helped to:

• Enhance food security

• Supply Chain Transparency

• Support for Sustainable Practices

After succeeding in ensuring the traceability of shrimp from farm to table, Walmart then brodened its implications to other products like fruits, leafy greens and diary products. Thus, Walmart was successfull in gaining it's customers undevided trust.

Some other companies/organizations that uses BT are Mercedes-Benz, LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), OpenSC, De Beers' Tracr and IBM Food Trust.

Lets stop my yapppp
The integration of blockchain into the seafood industry is not just an advancement in technology but an effort towards creating a more sustainable and ethical future. Ensuring traceability, combating fraudism, and empowering small-scale fishers, blockchain has the power to completely change the way sourcing, processing, and delivery is done in seafood industry. Companies like Walmart have already demonstrated its power to build trust and transparency in the supply chain. The future, when each piece of seafood eaten comes with a promise of quality, sustainability, and fairness, looks bright indeed as more and more businesses adopt this technology. Blockchain might just be the key to not only preserving our oceans but also improving the lives of those who depend on them.
Okayei byeiiiiii <3