Can consumer-facing traceability govern
sustainability?
Megan Bailey and Simon Bush
International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade Conference, July 7-11
2014, University of Queensland, Brisbane
Informational needs and challenges


Informational demands: Limit and
target reference points, by-catch,
food safety, IUU, provenance,
benefit allocation and conservation
burden, employment and food
security
Global challenges
● North placing ever greater
demands on South
● South information poor and fish
rich (?)
● Private sector in South starting
to face barriers to export
markets
?
?
?
?
Global tuna information architecture
X
Public
Weak
X
CR
CR
Public
Public
Weak
Weak
X
X
X
ECR
Private
Fair
X
X
R
Private
Weak
Pacifical b.v.
X
ECR
X
Private
Weak
IMACS/ANOVA
X
ECR
X
Public/Private
High
CSIRO/ACIAR
X
EC
X
Public
High
SPC TUFMAN
X
CR
X
Public
Fair
DGCF Indonesia X
ECR
Public
Weak
BAS Philippines
ECR
Public
Weak
X
X
Mobile App.
X
X
OpenAccess data
Sea Around Us
FAO iMarine
OpenAccess
system
Interoperability
CR
Oceanwise
Public/private
Enumeration (E),
Collation (C), Reporting
(R)
X
X
RFMO compliant
Static data
FAO Tuna Atlas
ThisFish
Dynamic data
Database
X
X
Value chain transparency
(Global) informational flows becoming as important
as material flows
Complexity of transboundary resources and
trade
New expectations to
‘know’ placing new
demands on informational
infrastructures
Different access to
informational technology –
North-South divide.
Value chain transparency
 Understanding new architectures - who is providing what
information, how and why?
Forms of
transparency
1. Management
Disclosure of
information by
Upstream economic
actors in chains
Disclosure of
information for
Downstream economic
actors in chains
2. Regulatory
Private (economic)
actors
Regulatory and
inspection bodies
3. Consumer
Economic actors in
chains
Consumers and
certification bodies
4. Public
Private (economic)
actors, certification
bodies
Public (citizenconsumers)
Adapted from Mol (Forthcoming), J. Clean.
Prod.
Informational governance
 Decisions around the control of information is an act of
environmental governance
Public regimes
Private networks
Hybrid arrangements?
Setting transparency requirements in
exchange for market access.
Questions
1. What opportunities are there for collaborative public-
public collection, storage, analysis and communication
of tuna information?
2. What kinds of incentives can ‘information rich’ consumer
facing traceability create for on-going (sustainable) data
collection in these fisheries?
3. Does the introduction of consumer facing traceability
generate information flows that are of a high enough
quality, timely, accessible and understandable?
Networked data flows
VC Transparency
REGULATORY
And
MANAGEMENT
 iFish database
Alternative system to WCPFC TUFMAN
database. Greater interoperability,
OpenAccess, Cloud based.
 MDPI
REGULATORY
and
MANAGEMENT
CONSUMER
and
PUBLIC
Investing in RFMO compliant enumeration,
observer programmes – fisheries data
(target and non-target), ETPs.
 ThisFish
Providing consumer facing traceability
system with transparent information to
consumers and
Where are the incentives?
 What resolution of
traceability?
 What changes
to value chain
coordination?
 What efficiencies
emerge in chain
practices?
Information brokers and blockers
 Who are brokers of
information?
 Where change
towards
sustainability can be
leveraged?
 Who are barriers of
information
exchange?
Timely and legible information
Producer
Consumer
Market
?
iFISH
?
State
?
Sub-national
National
Regional
A new informational architecture?
 Regimes remain backbone of informational governance
supplemented by private infrastructure
 But emerging trend that private actors and networks
are sources of public fisheries information
 Question remains:
Can goals of fisheries data collection and traceability can
be aligned to creating new incentives for information
provision?
Helping Indonesia emerge from
the ‘informational periphery’
www.besttuna.org/en/besttuna/IFITT