NSF Convergence Accelerator Track E: Innovative Seafood Traceability Network for Sustainable Use, Improved Market Access, and Enhanced Blue Economy

Proposal # 2137582 NSF Convergence Accelerator Track E: Innovative seafood traceability network for sustainable use, improved market access, and enhanced blue economy

Addressing the global challenge of feeding the growing human population will require a solution from the ocean. To prevent reoccurrences of overfishing and its negative ecological impacts, major fisheries require reimagined monitoring and management strategies. Leveraging leading-edge machine learning computer technology and environmental DNA (an organism’s DNA that can be detected in the water) techniques, this project builds a broad network to implement a powerful traceability tool for marine fisheries.

This project focuses on octopus (known as cephalopods), a fishery currently at severe risk due to unsustainable exploitation as an animal protein source. While the United States catches a fair number of octopus to supply the domestic market, it also relies on imports from both neighboring and distant countries. Regardless of origin, octopus products on the market should meet the same requirements of other seafoods to ensure consumer protection and fishery sustainability and reduced illegal fishing practices.

This project will develop and pilot reliable tools to achieve these goals for the American market and consumers. Deliverables will also help to combat the fraudulent practice of species substitution – the dishonest labeling and selling of a cheap species under the name of an expensive one. Proper, easy to deploy and affordable environmental DNA traceability techniques will help combat this practice that damages the seafood management chain.

Most importantly, this project will help make these tools and techniques available and affordable for octopus-exporting countries, thus allowing for critical check points through the supply chain – from the fishing net to the dinner plate. From a development perspective, it can help small-scale octopus harvesters in developing countries access the lucrative American market without facing tariff barriers to trade.

This will promote fair trade practices. Ultimately, this project applies convergence research concepts that integrate knowledge, methods, and expertise across disciplines to advance science and lay the foundation for solving the simultaneous global challenges of food security, sustainable consumption, and marine resource conservation.

Cephalopods are currently undergoing accelerating misuse and mismanagement with octopus species particularly vulnerable due to their exploitation as an important animal-derived protein. This problem originates from a dearth of data on octopus recruitment and a general lack of infrastructure within the fishery. Hence, the utility of traceability methods rooted in real-time detection and reliable predictions offer promise to robustly assess stocks and their potential for exploitation in the octopus seafood supply chain.

Seafood traceability methods must be easily replicable and affordable for the management of seafood to control Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing. Furthermore, transparent activities between the producers and the consumers will facilitate data collection under proper regulations and, ultimately, appropriate decisions towards stock improvements.

This NSF Convergence Accelerator project will: (1) Develop a dashboard prototype traceability tool that allows affordable identification of species and area of capture for wild octopus fisheries within the United States and abroad using a machine learning model “SeaTraceBlueNet” trained on legacy data of environmental metadata, species occurrence and images; (2) Develop a community-based citizen-science network (fishers, researchers, industry partners, students, etc.) to gather new data (images, metadata and environmental DNA (eDNA)), train on and test the portable eDNA kits and SeaTraceBlueNet prototype to build the collaborative capacity to establish a standardized traceability system; and, (3) Set a system in place to connect traceability, sustainability and legality to support the development of a blue economy around the octopus value chain, incorporating the best practices and existing standards from stakeholders. This project is forward-thinking in drawing upon the perspective, ideas, expertise, and skillsets of the team members that represent a diversity of backgrounds, races, ethnicities, ages, and geographic regions.

Over half of the team of co-PIs and Senior Personnel are women and/or persons of color. Most of the research team and industry partners are geographically located within the United States, yet this project is further strengthened by experts based in both developed and emerging nations as seafood traceability requires a global solution. Broadly, this project promotes coordinated use of multiple new and existing fisheries knowledge and data for transformative, accurate monitoring of key marine bioresources.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.