The Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST)—a major industry forum involving more than five hundred leading companies worldwide from across the seafood supply chain—released on Monday, March 16^th the first-ever global standards for tracking seafood products from point of origin to point of sale.

These newly released Standards and Guidelines for Interoperable Seafood Traceability Systems, v1.0 are a critical step forward in the fight against illegal fishing and unethical labor practices and are game-changing for an industry under increasing pressure to demonstrate its compliance with high standards for ethical sourcing.

“When it comes to conserving our oceans and ensuring the seafood we eat originates through ethical production, the seafood industry plays a large role. To confirm our seafood is caught, traded and sold properly requires the ability to effectively and reliably trace the path, from catch to point of sale.”

David Schorr, Senior Manager at the World Wildlife Fund.

These standards and guidelines are designed to meet operational business needs and are adapted to facilitate compliance with import control regulations. They enable companies to have visibility into their supply chains while allowing them to maintain data access controls to protect business-sensitive information. When implemented, the GDST standards will help companies meet their commitments to responsible sourcing and ensuring that future investments in their traceability systems are in line with industry trends and technology developments. 

Companies around the world have signed on to adopt GDST 1.0 and many have begun taking the steps to implement these standards in their respective commercial environments. At the same time, service providers and seafood sustainability advisors have endorsed GDST 1.0 and are actively encouraging a wider industry adoption.  

Driven by the necessity for better traceability practices, WWF joined efforts in April 2017 with the Institute of Food Technologists to launch the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST). The GDST originally started with two dozen companies that came together to draft standards to enable interoperability and increase verifiability in seafood traceability systems. As of today, the GDST has 65+ members from around the world and across the seafood supply chain.

For more information, read the full Press Release here.