Dive Brief:
- New England fishermen may begin utilizing a new food app that enables consumers to scan a fish label at the supermarket and see the details of where that fish came from on their smartphones.
- Fishermen in the area are struggling amid depleted resources and diminishing catch quotas, and this effort, the "Boat to Plate" project, could assist farmers and bring back appreciation for locally-sourced seafood.
- "The project involves bringing together data about the different pieces of the supply chain — including catch, landing, auction, processing and delivery — and allows the buyer to see all the way back to the fisherman," Jen Levin, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute's sustainable seafood program manager, told The Salt Lake Tribune.
Dive Insight:
The "Boat to Plate" project received a $175,000 federal grant in cooperation with Maine Coast Fishermen's Association, and the technology is about two years away from being released.
The initiative is part of a growing food traceability tech market, which market research firm Visiongain said that in 2015, the industry will reach $11.15 billion, a half-billion dollar increase from 2014.