Seafood Supply Chain Research Articles

Managing changes and risk in seafood supply chain: A case study from Thailand

Thailand was one of the largest seafood producers and exporters in the world; however, Thailand lost its number one position due to many drastic changes (e.g., EMS in shrimp, new laws and regulations, depletion of natural resources) in the past few decades. These changes have impacted the Supply Chain of Thai Seafood industry. Our research on Thailand's Seafood industry using several government's statistics and records, retrospective analysis of critical events and primary in-depth interviews with veterans in the industry showed 1) the critical changes in Thai seafood's supply chain during the last 30 years such as some internal and external issues affect the industries, 2) the current changes (updated new food standards, regulation and laws impacting both exports and imports) impacting every sectors of the supply chain (e.g., small and medium processors that were forced out of business) and 3) prediction on how the seafood supply chain in 2020s (e.g., role disruption and expected changes of farmers, processors and brokers).

Social Networks and Supply Chain Management in Fish Trade

This study aims to construct a theoretical framework to analyze the elements of the network structure and the relationship system within the seafood supply chain. The scope of the investigation is to evaluate how these elements influence the flow of products and the efficiency of the seafood supply chain and why these social interactions can create value and enhance competitive advantage. The model combines the resource- and knowledge-based view and the social network analysis applied to seafood supply chains. To demonstrate the application of the model, two theoretical examples and a real case study of the Mercado del Mar in Guadalajara, Mexico, are used. Primary data are obtained from semi-structured interviews, social network analysis metrics, and qualitative analysis. Findings are based on the analysis of theoretical examples and must be considered with caution. Nevertheless, the observations in the examples and case study provide new arguments to the relationship between the pattern of interrelationship and the efficiency of a supply chain. This study emphasizes the necessity of combining quantitative and qualitative analyses to understand and explain real-life supply networks.

Developing Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms for Identification of Cod Products by RAD-Seq.

Simple SummaryAs high-value fishery products, cod species are frequently faked by non-cod ones. Genetic fingerprinting is important for both certifying authenticity and traceability of fish species. In this study, we developed a method that combines DNA barcoding and restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RAD-Seq) approach for the identification of cod products. Two sequences that contain single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)s were identified and these SNPs can be used to distinguish three different cod species, which are Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), Greenland turbot (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides), and Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides). This SNP-based method will help us to identify the products, which are sold under the name of “Xue Yu” (Cod) in China, and works in parallel with existing fish identification techniques to establish an efficient framework to detect and prevent fraud at all points of the cod commercialization.The increase in the rate of seafood fraud, particularly in the expensive fishes, forces us to verify the identity of marine products. Meanwhile, the definition of cod lacks consistency at the international level, as few standards and effective application methods are capable of accurately detecting cod species. Genetic fingerprinting is important for both certifying authenticity and traceability of fish species. In this study, we developed a method that combines DNA barcoding and the restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RAD-Seq) approach for the identification of cod products. We first obtained 6941 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)s from 65.6 gigabases (Gb) of RAD-Seq raw data, and two sequences that contain SNPs were finally used to successfully identify three different cod product species, which are Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), Greenland turbot (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides), and Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides). This SNP-based method will help us to identify the products, which are sold under the name of “Xue Yu” (Cod) in China, and works in parallel with existing fish identification techniques to establish an efficient framework to detect and prevent fraud at all points of the seafood supply chain.

Fishing Vessels Behavior Identification for Combating IUU Fishing: Enable Traceability at Sea

Overfishing is a critical catastrophe to the ecosystem and the global food chain. The leading causes are Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU Fishing) linked to illegal labor. EU and the US have set up the fisheries policy that emphasis on traceability. The traceability principle is to monitor the entire seafood supply chain (Sea to Table). FAO’s technology gap analysis reveals that there is a lack of reliable and affordable automated systems or a lack of links to traceability. The challenge of traceability is tracing back to the catch source with existing data and technology. This study aims at the novel concept of a combination of global and local features of trajectory data for fishing vessel behavior identification and enabling seafood transparency. We present a new technique on a local feature of time series and transform the trajectory pattern to global features for Deep Learning. We apply this technique to AIS and VMS data of Thai fishing vessels (Surrounding Nets, Trawl, Longliner, and Reefer). Fishing vessel behaviors were classified as Fishing, Non-fishing, and Transshipment. Our proposed method gives a robust average accuracy result (97.50%). This concept could solve the IUU Fishing and enable traceability at sea, including monitoring, maritime, and marine resources conservation systems.

Private governance of human and labor rights in seafood supply chains – The case of the modern slavery crisis in Thailand

A growing recognition of human rights in business has shed light on labor violations and abusive practices that prevail in many global supply chains. The recent ‘modern slavery’ crisis in the Thai fishing industry not only brings the question of government's responsibility to the fore but also increasingly highlights the role of private governance in global supply chains. This paper provides an updated analysis on the state of labor rights protection in the Thai fishing industry by analyzing responses from private business and civil society to the modern slavery scandal. We focus on three responses in particular: ethical recruitment policies, worker grievance mechanisms and worker associations. We analyse the effectiveness of these responses and delineate the potential of private governance as well as the limits that need to be overcome to ensure the protection of human and labor rights in global seafood supply chains.

Market Impacts of a Toxic Algae Event: The Case of California Dungeness Crab

Perceptions of seafood safety are a known driver of seafood demand, and misinformation about seafood safety has generated documented welfare losses in seafood markets. Welfare losses known as avoidance costs can occur when consumers respond to imperfect information about a contamination event, perceiving a health risk from seafood consumption where one does not exist. Furthermore, contamination events can enable other indirect economic impacts in the form of welfare transfers within the seafood supply chain. Here we explore the indirect economic impacts generated by the prolonged 2015 harmful algal bloom event in California. During this event, harmful algae produced high levels of domoic acid (a neurotoxin), resulting in closures for all commercial Dungeness crab fisheries in California that lasted roughly four and a half months. To estimate the impacts of the event, we investigate whether Dungeness crab prices, both at the ex-vessel and consumer levels, were negatively impacted by the event after the closures were lifted and the crab was declared safe to eat. We find ex-vessel prices fell by at least 9.6% while consumer prices were not impacted. We put forth three competing theories to explain these outcomes and discuss the efficiency and distributional implications of each alternative.

Using Seafood Traceability to Teach the Complexities of Natural Resource Management and Sustainability

This lesson plan addresses the challenge of conveying to students the globalized nature and complexity of natural resource management. Specifically, it uses seafood traceability, or the ability to track seafood as it moves through the global seafood supply chain, as a theme for understanding the potential for science and technological innovations to enable traceability as well as the different roles that various stakeholders play in ensuring fisheries sustainability. The lesson plan conveys several themes related to environmental sustainability including: the role of consumer empowerment, the importance of data and information sharing, the need to coordinate multiple stakeholders, and the intersection of science, technology, and policy-making. In one classroom activity, students are guided through a small-group, active-learning exercise that challenges them to make sustainable seafood choices from a restaurant menu. In another activity, students are asked to role-play and consider the information needs of various stakeholders in the seafood supply chain. Overall, the lesson plan is designed to demonstrate that there is no one single solution to realize seafood traceability and ensure fisheries sustainability. Instead, fisheries and natural resource management require multifaceted solutions and the involvement of multiple sectors of society.

Preface

The World Seafood Congress was being held in Asia for the first time in 2019. The World Seafood Congress 2019 has brought together leaders of the global seafood industry and the latest in seafood supply chain innovation and technologies under one roof.The conference was divided into three parts: plenary session, parallel session, and poster exhibition. The plenary session consisted of presentation by international keynote and invited speakers. The parallel session contained the papers presentations by conference participants. Poster exhibition displayed posters from selected participants who took apart on poster session.Speakers details, Conference Photographs are also available in the pdf.

Swordfish or Shark Slice? A Rapid Response by COIBar-RFLP.

Market transparency is in strong demand by consumers, and the authentication of species is an important step for seafood traceability. In this study, a simple molecular strategy, COIBar–RFLP (cytochrome oxidase I barcode–restriction fragment length polymorphism), is proposed to unveil commercial fraud based on the practice of species substitution in the swordfish trade. In particular, COI barcoding allowed the identification of the species Prionace glauca, Mustelus mustelus, and Oxynotus centrina in slices labeled as Xiphias gladius. Furthermore, the enzymatic digestion of COI amplicons using the MboI restriction endonuclease allowed the simultaneous discrimination of the four species. Interestingly, an intraspecific differential MboI pattern was obtained for the swordfish samples. This pattern was useful to differentiate the two different clades revealed in this species by phylogenetic analyses using several molecular markers. These results indicate the need to strengthen regulations and define molecular tools for combating the occurrence of fraud along the seafood supply chain and show that COIBar–RFLP could become a standardized molecular tool to assess seafood authenticity.

Antibacterial and antibiofilm activity of coenzyme Q0 against Vibrio parahaemolyticus

Coenzyme Q0 (CoQ0) demonstrates antineoplastic and anti-inflammatory properties; however, its antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities against Vibrio parahaemolyticus have not been extensively examined. Thus, the aim of the current study was to investigate the antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities, along with the underlying mechanism, of CoQ0 against V. parahaemolyticus. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of CoQ0 against eight V. parahaemolyticus strains ranged from 4 to 16 μg/mL, while V. parahaemolyticus treated with CoQ0 showed a longer lag phase compared with the untreated control. CoQ0 was effective in destroying cell membrane integrity and inducing morphological changes in the cell. In addition, an antibiotic sensitivity assay showed that CoQ0 caused cell damage associated with DNA, RNA, and proteins. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis confirmed the action of CoQ0 on destroying proteins or inhibiting proteins synthesis of V. parahaemolyticus. CoQ0 effectively inactivated V. parahaemolyticus in mature biofilm on stainless steel surfaces and inhibited V. parahaemolyticus in fresh shrimp. These findings suggested that CoQ0 could be used as a natural antimicrobial and antibiofilm agent to control V. parahaemolyticus in the seafood supply chain, thereby preventing seafood-associated infections.

Fishery Improvement Projects as a governance tool for fisheries sustainability: A global comparative analysis.

Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) are a form of private governance using seafood supply chains to reduce environmental impacts of fishing in some of the most challenged fisheries. Some FIPs are industry-led, others are championed by NGOs. They range across many different fishery types, in both high- and low-income settings. Their diversity is notable, and their proliferation remarkable. This rapid growth suggests FIPs are becoming a key feature of the fisheries governance landscape globally. Based on a global sample of 107 FIPs, we systematically examined their reported actions, the actors involved, and their achievements in terms of policy and practice outputs. The most common actions were dialogues with policy stakeholders, data collection, and educational efforts directed at fishers. Common policy outputs included development of management plans and/or a management body, and rules for limiting entry and increasing compliance. Practice related outputs were dominated by gear changes, and observer and traceability programs. Only crab and lobster FIPs engaged in sustained policy conversations as one of the most common actions. Shrimp and tuna fisheries report more engagement in testing and implementing changes to fishery practices. While supply chain actors are involved in all FIPs, retailers and 1st tier suppliers are relatively absent from FIP activities, and are primarily involved in rallying financial support or some policy engagement. Based on our analysis we discuss the opportunities and challenges FIPs will likely need to engage with to contribute to a global transition to more socially and environmentally sustainable fisheries. We outline key areas where further work is needed to understand how FIPs can improve their contribution to global fisheries governance in the future.

Multi-instrument Evaluation of a Real-time PCR Assay for Identification of Atlantic Salmon: a Case Study on the Use of a Pre-packaged Kit for Rapid Seafood Species Identification

Protecting the seafood supply chain from species substitution is critical for economic, health, and conservation reasons. DNA-based methods represent an effective means to detect species substitution, but current methods can be time consuming or costly, and require specialized instruments and operators. Real-time PCR provides an alternative that can be performed quickly, and in some cases even on-site. The use of commercial kits reduces the expertise required by the operator and therefore increases accessibility to testing. This potentially increases the likelihood of adoption into the supply chain, but only if the kits are robust across multiple operators, instruments, and samples. In this study, the InstantID™ Atlantic salmon kits were tested on a variety of instruments with market samples of fresh, frozen, smoked, and canned Atlantic salmon. Results were repeatable across all samples and instruments tested. This kit, and others like it that have undergone appropriate evaluation, represents a means for expanded access to testing for industry or regulators to screen seafood for species authenticity. Portable equipment can bring testing on-site, further reducing analysis time.

DARK SIDE CASE: Nestlé and Modern Slavery

In November 2015, Nestle reported that it had uncovered forced labor in its seafood supply chain in Thailand. This was a rare admission by a multinational company about the prevalence of modern sla...

Estimating the influence of the network topology on the agility of food supply chains.

Several studies have shown that the performance of a supply chain is heavily influenced by the pattern of relationships among firms. This paper analyzes the structure of relationships (network topology) that leads to the highest agility of a food supply chain when sudden demand changes occur. To do this, a simulation model that represents a supply chain and specific rules to allocate orders is built. The supply chain in the model follows the specific characteristics of trade in the primary sector. The model is fitted to the conditions of a real seafood supply chain in Mexico. Agility is measured through the effect on the order fulfillment of a sudden demand shock and the recovery time of this rate to previous values. The simulation results show that the most suitable structure depends on how product is distributed among suppliers. If product is evenly shared, supply chains with homogeneous topologies are more agile than supply chains with heterogeneous topologies, but the result is the opposite if product is unevenly shared among suppliers. Other previous recommendations, such as having multiple suppliers and horizontal links, are confirmed by the simulations. These findings contribute to the general debate on which is the optimal topology for an agile supply chain.

Coordination between RFMOs on mutual recognition of IUU vessel lists

A centralized list of vessels identified as engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing or mutual recognition of such lists established by each regional fisheries management organization (RFMO) offers a cost-efficient way to exchange information and cooperate on eliminating illegal harvest from the global seafood supply chain. However, to date, no entity has been specifically assigned to the task of creating such centralized list or facilitating coordination on cross-listing of individual lists between RFMOs. This undermines the global effort against IUU fishing, as operators involved in illicit activities can easily move from one fishing area to another, crossing into the jurisdiction of another RFMO, where they may not be subject to restrictions resulting from the identification as an IUU fishing vessel. To understand the extent of the potential impact of this easily-solvable shortcoming, this article explores cross-listing provisions and resulting practices across 13 RFMOs that adopted measures allowing the establishment of IUU vessel lists.

An action research approach for measurement of sustainability in a multi-echelon supply chain: Evidences from Indian sea food supply chains

Lack of sustainability may be affecting the supply chain operations of businesses. This study has tested this concept in Indian seafood industry by examining an action research approach for measuring and accounting variables affected by sustainability in three seafood-manufacturing companies in India. Through action research, sampled tasks in five locations were monitored and accounted for eight sustainability variables taken from the triple bottom-line model. The accounting data of the tasks was converted into multi-level interval scales for all the transactions observed during the data collection period and analysed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and regression analysis. In addition, the supervisors in the five locations were field-interviewed to explore the relevant barriers. It was found lack of safety measures, green standards, and environment hazards prevention were increasing the operations time and costs, and unfair employment practices were found to be causing loss of materials significantly and increasing the operations time moderately. This reflects an operations overhead caused by lack of sustainability. The descriptive statistical analysis reflected inconsistencies in sustainability activities as they are inadequately controlled by the supervisors and vary by actor. From the interviews, regulatory compliance was found as the highest organisational priority resulting in decentralised sustainability monitoring with abstract observations only. It is concluded that measuring and accounting sustainability in the operations activities through action research can help in discovering hidden impacts on the performance variables and plan for their improvements. In this way, (a) sustainability measurements and accounting through action research can be considered as a way to improve operations performance, (b) sustainability can be measured and improved using action research without implementing sophisticated measurement technologies in the short-term, and (c) performance improvements can help in establishing feasibility for investing in advanced technologies in the long-run.

To create sustainable seafood industries, the United States needs a better accounting of imports and exports

Global seafood trade nearly doubled in recent decades, fueled by decreasing transportation costs, advances in preservation and processing technologies, and open trade policies and is now among the most highly traded commodities (1). The United States is currently the world’s top seafood importer and among the top five exporters (2). It is often quoted that 90% of seafood consumed in the United States is imported, implying only 10% is of domestic origin. Over the past decade, this statistic has been widely shared and highlighted with more than 60 news articles quoting it annually since 2014 ( SI Appendix , Fig. S1), and it is increasingly used to support proposed policy changes. In recent years, the former US Secretary of State, current US Secretary of Commerce, and members of Congress have all cited the number to call for new policy measures addressing seafood sustainability and dependence on foreign seafood (Fig. 1). Fig. 1. A better accounting of the globalized seafood supply chain will help support the US seafood industry, achieve sustainable production, and meet consumer demand. Image credit: Allison Horst (University of California, Santa Barbara, CA). However, we argue that far more than 10%, likely 35–38%, of seafood consumed in the United States is of domestic origin. Precise estimates are difficult because of complex supply chains: for instance, some seafood caught in the United States is exported for processing and imported again under a different trade code for consumption in the United States. Such globalized supply chains are commonplace with many products relying on numerous foreign inputs and crossing international borders multiple times. For example, beef production between the United States and Mexico can involve multiple exchanges of calves, adults, and final products (3). These counterintuitive patterns are created by low tariffs and transportation costs that allow producers to optimize for favorable interest rates … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: jgephart{at}sesync.org. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

'A sea of troubles' (2): Brexit and the UK seafood supply chain

The debate over Brexit and the fisheries question has focused very largely on the expected benefits for the UK's fishing industry to the virtual exclusion of potential implications for the seafood supply chain. This paper refocuses attention on a supply chain now heavily dependent on both imports and exports of fish and fish products mainly to EU markets. Brexit could pose potentially significant problems arising from the imposition of tariff and non-tariff restrictions on trade and limitation on future movements of semi-skilled and unskilled EU migrants into the UK labour market. Three elements of the supply chain are likely to be directly affected: the shellfish and small scale fisheries sectors impacted by tariff and non-tariff restrictions and perhaps most significantly the fish processing industry, similarly affected by trade restrictions and heavily dependent on EU labour. Brexit has also been the catalyst for renewed pressures in Scotland for further devolution of powers relating to the fishing industry that at some future date could see the development of two distinctive seafood supply chains within the UK.

The role of human rights in implementing socially responsible seafood.

Sustainability standards for seafood mainly address environmental performance criteria and are less concerned with the welfare of fisheries workers who produce the seafood. Yet human rights violations such as slavery and human trafficking are widespread in fisheries around the world, and underscore the need for certification bodies and other seafood supply chain actors to improve social performance, in addition to addressing environmental challenges. Calls for socially responsible seafood have referenced human rights law and policy frameworks to shape the guiding principles of socially responsible seafood and to provide the legal machinery to implement these aspirations, but practical guidance on how to achieve this is lacking. To provide clarity on this challenge, we reviewed the literature concerning human rights in the seafood supply chain, and prepared an analysis of opportunities and challenges to implement socially responsible seafood through relevant human rights, legal and policy instruments. We observe that human rights laws are generally framed in favour of addressing violations of civil and political rights, but there remains considerable scope for applying economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights in this context. Other challenges include weakly defined ESC rights infringements, a lack of straightforward mechanisms to enforce human rights entitlements, and practical difficulties such as resources to support and secure rights. On the positive side, governments can draw on international instruments to inspire national policies and legislation to eliminate illegalities from the seafood supply chain. However, for socially responsible seafood principles to translate into tangible actions, these objectives must be rooted in clear legal obligations and be supported by sufficient national capacity and political will.

Climate forcing by battered-and-breaded fillets and crab-flavored sticks from Alaska pollock

The food sector is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, contributing 10–32% of global anthropogenic sources. Compared with land-based food production systems, relatively little is known about the climate impact of seafood products. Previous studies have placed an emphasis on fishing activities, overlooking the contribution of the processing phase in the seafood supply chain. Furthermore, other studies have ignored short-lived climate forcing pollutants which can be particularly large for ship fuels. To address these critical knowledge gaps, we conducted a carbon footprint analysis of seafood products from Alaska pollock, one of the world’s largest fisheries. A holistic assessment was made including all components in the supply chain from fishing through retail display case, including a broad suite of climate forcing pollutants (well-mixed greenhouse gases, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, black carbon and organic carbon), for domestic and top importers. We found that in some instances the processing phase contributed nearly twice the climate impact as the fishing phase of the seafood supply chain. For highly fuel-efficient fisheries, such as the Alaska pollock catcher-processor fleet, including the processing phase of the seafood supply chain is essential. Furthermore, the contribution from cooling emissions (sulfur and nitrogen oxides, and organic carbon) offsets a significant portion of the climate forcing from warming emissions. The estimates that include only greenhouse gases are as much as 2.6 times higher than the cases that include short-lived climate forcing pollutants. This study also advances our understanding of the climate impact of seafood distribution with products for the domestic retail market having a climate impact that is as much as 1.6 times higher than export products that undergo transoceanic shipping. A full accounting of the supply chain and of the impact of the pollutants emitted by food production systems is important for climate change mitigation strategies in the near-term.