Review the Current Status of Traceability Methods in the Fisheries Sector Based on Genetics

The fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing plays a crucial role in the attempt to move towards sustainable fisheries. IUU fishing is a global problem that continues to be out of control. Its value has been assessed to amount worldwide to be between ¿10 to 20 billion (Agnew et al., 2009), which is more than twice the value of annual landings by the EU fleet (¿6.8 billion in 20043). These estimates are probably rather conservative, but certainly IUU fishing represents the major source of fishing mortality (Figure 3.1.1.1). Such estimates are, however, probably very conservative, but nevertheless represent the major source of fishing mortality. Escaping control, IUU fishing threatens marine ecosystems, impedes management schemes for sustainable fisheries, and has a negative effect on socio-economic development. Moreover, globalisation has had major affects on the food supply chain. It has removed production from direct consumer control, increased competition, lengthened the food supply chain, and made it less transparent. There has been an associated increase in awareness in traceability issues to deal with food safety, quality assurance and animal welfare. Illegal activities extend into the supply chain, as has become evident by fraud cases in the US and Europe where fish has been sold under false labels (for examples see Annex 1). Such practice leads to consumer misinformation and hampers efforts to ensure consumer protection. Consumer protection is currently mainly assured by documentation and labelling of products and such a system is prone to fraudulent activities. Increasing dependence on product imports and complex marketing patterns further impede efforts to regulate and control the fisheries sector. Increasingly, certification procedures that endorse sustainable fisheries, such as awarded by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or consumer oriented websites describing fishery status, such as the NOAA Fishwatch program (http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch/), are employed to provide information on fishery products. However, such certification is also susceptible to fraud. Therefore, to fight illegal fishing activities and ensure sustainability, fairness and transparency in the fisheries sector, as well as for the information and protection of consumers, a traceability system is required. Traceability is defined by the CODEX Alimentarius Commision (CAC 2006) and according to ISO 22005:2007 as the ¿ability to follow the movement of a food through specified stages(s) of production, processing, and distribution and for the EU laid down in Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002. Any such system in the fisheries sector should be effective throughout the food supply chain (¿from ocean to fork¿), and be supported by independent control measures to verify the species and origins of fish and shellfish caught. Consequently there is an urgent need to identify traceability markers that can be used throughout the food supply chain, from on-board samples, to processed product, and which exhibit minimal variance. Furthermore, it is likely that traceability tools will in many cases need to be applied within a sufficiently robust forensic framework (Ogden 2008) to promote legal enforcement.JRC.G.4-Maritime affair