New Seafish report highlights opportunities to strengthen seafood traceability
A new Seafish report has identified opportunities for UK seafood businesses to reduce duplication in traceability reporting and get greater value from the supply chain information they already collect.
The report, which focuses on wild-caught seafood, highlights that businesses collect substantial amounts of traceability data. However, similar information is often requested repeatedly by regulators, retailers, certification schemes and others, in different formats and for different purposes. This adds cost and complexity for businesses across the supply chain.
At the same time, effective traceability offers business value by supporting access to markets, strengthening business resilience and building consumer confidence. Better use of supply chain information can help businesses understand risks and make informed decisions.
The findings draw on a Seafood Traceability Round Table convened by Seafish in April 2026, involving representatives from seafood processing, retail, foodservice, UK government and regulators.
Alongside details of where seafood was caught and how it has moved through the supply chain, businesses are increasingly asked for information about sustainability, human rights and working conditions. The report highlights the need to distinguish product traceability from these wider requirements for transparency and assurance.
Huw Thomas of 3 Pillars Seafood, who facilitated the round table and helped develop the report, said: “Good supply chain information helps businesses assess risks, make informed sourcing and investment decisions and understand the impact of their activities. Existing traceability systems provide a foundation we can build on to support this.
“Much of that information is already present in supply chains, but it is not always available to the people who need it. Making it easier to access and share would help businesses get greater value from the information they already collect.”
The report identifies four areas for further discussion and collaboration:
- Developing shared definitions of traceability, transparency, assurance and compliance.
- Exploring a practical minimum set of traceability data that businesses can reasonably collect and maintain.
- Clarifying who owns information, who can access it and how it can be shared.
- Making it easier for existing digital systems to work together and reuse trusted information.
A recurring principle in the discussions was to collect data once, validate it once and reuse it wherever appropriate. Making better use of existing information could help reduce repeated requests and unnecessary reporting.
Seafish Chief Executive Colin Faulkner
Seafish Chief Executive Colin Faulkner said: “This report gives industry, government and other organisations a well-evidenced foundation for discussing practical improvements to seafood traceability.
“Our role is to bring those perspectives together and help identify where collaboration could make the greatest difference for businesses. We want to support effective traceability that delivers value while keeping demands on businesses proportionate.”
The report is intended to support further discussion and collaboration. It does not make formal recommendations or propose a particular technology or system.
Read UK Seafood Traceability – Landscape, Emerging Priorities and Opportunities (Wild Capture) at UK Seafood Traceability Report — Seafish.
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