THE DEVELOPERS of an intelligent tool that could be used to profile greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the seafood product supply chain are seeking businesses to take part in user trials.
Seafish, with partners SINTEF and Dalhousie University, have created a GHG emissions profiling tool to help the industry identify energy ‘hotspots’ in the supply chain, helping businesses to make energy savings to reduce their emissions. It is hoped the tool will save industry time and money.
At this stage, the tool is focussed on profiling seafood products sourced from wild capture fisheries, either produced in or destined for, the UK and covers whitefish, pelagic, salmon and shellfish. It uses a set of questions that broadly follow the Pas2050-2 standard for GHG emissions in seafood and other aquatic food products with the results identifying ‘hotspots’ specific to the business so they can take action.
Seafood businesses are being sought for voluntary collaboration during the three month period of the trial. Participating companies will need to be able to describe their product supply chains from capture to arrival at retailer or food service depot, source the data across their supply chain and provide feedback on the tool to Seafish.
Angus Garrett from Seafish, who has been involved in the development of the prototype said:
“The issue of food miles is something that some people still question and it is important that businesses in the seafood industry can confidently tell the story of the journey from catching the fish to getting it to the plate. The profiling tool aims to support the industry by allowing them to identify energy weaknesses in the supply chain and build their own narrative of the product life cycle.
“However, it is still a work in progress and we are keen to work with the industry to test the process and methodology so we can make any necessary improvements to the final tool and we welcome interested businesses to get in touch.”
Organisations interested in taking part in the trial should register their interest with Angus Garrett at Seafish by emailing angus.garrett@seafish.co.uk. Participation will be based on whether the supply chain is of interest to the UK and whether stakeholders are willing and able to engage their supply chain partners.