From Ocean to Data: Digital Traceability for Sustainable Seafood Value Chains

The Atlantic fisheries sector represents a cornerstone of regional economies, cultural heritage, and food security. However, increasing societal demands for sustainability and transparency are driving the need for more effective environmental product traceability, and transparency across seafood value chains. Although digital technologies have advanced in recent years, the sector still faces important limitations, such as fragmented data systems, low interoperability among stakeholders, and the lack of integrated digital infrastructures based on harmonized data protocols. This study aims to develop an integrated environmental traceability framework to support more sustainable, transparent, and data-driven seafood value chains.

The proposed approach combines Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), following ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards, with innovative digital technologies for the collection and integration of primary data from fishing vessels and other fisheries stakeholders. A digital platform is currently under development to harmonize environmental and operational information and generate dynamic Life Cycle Inventory datasets based on real-world data, including fuel consumption, energy use, material inputs, by-catch, and waste generation. The methodological framework is being designed to assess conventional LCA impact categories, such as climate change, eutrophication, and acidification, together with fishery-specific indicators, waste-related impacts, and an innovative plastic footprint metric.

Once implemented, the platform is expected to provide fishers, processors, consumers, and public authorities with reliable environmental information and decision-support tools, contributing to more sustainable fishing practices and greater transparency throughout the seafood value chain.