IFITT is a new program recently taken on by MDPI (Fishing & Livings’ closely partnering NGO, see previous posting: MDPI and Anova Fishing & Living form a partnership which aims towards improvement and development of sustainable tuna fisheries in Indonesia and the wider ). IFITT aims to bring an improvement to data systems already in use within the western and central Pacific tuna fisheries, by implementing a consumer facing traceability system with a difference…..consumer facing traceability which links to a port sampling program to create an information and data hub useful to a wide range of stakeholders.

The implementation will be conducted, among others, in two of the Anova supply chains and will integrate the data collection program already established by Fishing & Living in these sites. The system will follow the fish from source to consumer and aims to bring information to each chain player along that path; the fisherman, the supplier, the processor, the importer, distributer and the final consumer, as well as external users of the data such as government and research institutes interested in this data. The traceability system is powered by ThisFish, an initiative of Ecotrust Canada (ThisFish.info).

The following ATUNA article describes the program initiated and developed by Wageningen University, Netherlands and explains the importance of this type of system for these highly important tuna fisheries of the WCPO;

http://www.atuna.com/index.php/2-uncategorised/629-consumer-facing-traceability-system-launched-in-indonesia-by-besttuna?highlight=WyJiZXN0dHVuYSJd#.Uwqef_mSwkQ

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MDPI, Fishing & Living’s partner organization in Indonesia, presented its work on traceability and FairTrade in Indonesia

The biennial  IIFET conference brings together  academics, government policymakers and regulators, members of the fishing and aquaculture and related industries, and nongovernmental agencies and was held this year in Brisbane, Australia from 7-11 July (http://iifet2014.org/about-iifet/).

MDPI (implementation partners to F&L in Indonesia), along with its partners from the IFITT program (Improving fisheries information and traceability for tuna), Wageningen University and ThisFish were invited as speakers on a panel of a special session entitled ‘Extending the Business Case for Traceability from the Global North to the Global South’.

Anova is partnering with the IFITT project to work on innovative traceability initiatives which aim to highlight the need for traceability and how it can be a tool which promotes transparency, supports the improvement of data flows in ‘fish rich but data poor’ countries such as Indonesia and which ultimately creates a pathway of information from source to plate. “We want traceability to show the world we are working with and sourcing from high quality, sustainably sourced and ethically compliant fisheries”.

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