WorldFish launches e-traceability system for Bangladesh’s shrimps

International research group WorldFish has launched a new application for Bangladesh’s shrimp farmers to manage traceability with a view to increasing production and bringing transparency to shrimp marketing.

The app, eServices Everywhere (ESE) of SourceTrace, can process and analyse data from all aspects of shrimp farming to offer traceability details throughout the production process, from hatchery to harvest.

To the buyers, bar-coded shrimps would mean shrimp free from all health hazards.

The WorldFish  said in a statement on Wednesday that they would pilot the initiative for five months up to May in southern Bangladesh, where shrimp are mostly cultivated.

Bangladesh earns around Tk 15 billion from shrimp exports annually. The EU is the largest market. But there are concerns of health hazards.

The WorldFish’s initiative comes from a USAID project that focuses on increasing aquaculture productivity through the development and dissemination of improved fish and shrimp seed, improved household and commercial aquaculture, and policy support and institutional capacity building.

The digital traceability will also help to get first-hand feedback from farmers, other shrimp value chain actors and field staff, and identify improvement opportunities for a future, larger scale rollout.

WorldFish will run collection centres to collect shrimp in the pilot areas.

A buyer will be able to trace the shrimp back to the specific collection center and the farmers who have provided shrimp to the center on a specific day.

“It is expected that consumers will have preference for shrimp that are more environment friendly but they will want to have proof, which makes traceability essential,” the research group says.