TrazApp: technological revolution for the Peruvian artisanal fishing sector

Posted on 15 June 2020

TrazApp is a traceability system that allows you to follow the route of the fish from bait to plate.It allows to generate reliable and in real-time information on artisanal fishing to improve its management.

· TrazApp is a traceability system that allows you to follow the route of the fish from bait to plate.
· It allows to generate reliable and real-time information on artisanal fishing to improve its management.

Traceability is the ability to keep track of a product from bait to plate, allowing a better monitoring, control and supervision process to avoid illegal fishing. Globally, this problem generates losses of up to US $ 50 billion, and according to the FAO, in 2015 alone it was estimated that losses from illegal fishing in Peru were US $ 360 million.

International markets such as the European Union, the United States, Japan, among others, are requiring traceability that guarantees the legal origin of the fish they buy. That is why, omitting these international demands can lead to negative socio economic impacts for our fisheries, including the possibility of international market closures to our products.

Relevance in times of pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the gap that exists between artisanal producers, local markets and final consumers, as there is no system that offers products directly on a large scale. During this situation, traceability plays a fundamental role in bringing artisanal fishers closer to the local market. It allows knowing the product’s route and the actors involved in its value chain, in addition to ensuring quality standards and protocols, thus generating greater consumer confidence. Likewise, it also helps to characterize and identify value chains of artisanal species from domestic trade.

Technology and innovation as part of the solution

Currently, in Peru, the use of paper prevails in several of the procedures and processes that involve fishing information. This system has several disadvantages when generating gaps between the process and analysis of the information and may be more prone to errors and data adulteration. Instead, if you would have the information digitized from the beginning, you can save more time, avoid errors and manipulation of the information, in addition to allowing it to be shared instantly and timely with other institutions and civil society.

TrazApp: revolution for the sector

WWF-Peru, together with the actors in the value chain, has developed an electronic traceability system for artisanal fisheries, called “TrazApp”, aimed at captains, boatowners, middleman and administrators of artisanal fishing landing sites. This system was designed to be adaptable to the different species that are caught in the Peruvian sea. To date, the apps have been tested in the mahi mahi, jumbo squid, shark and bonito fisheries, and in the Piura, Lambayeque and Arequipa regions.

TrazApp emerged with the aim of contributing to the sustainability and transparency of the artisanal fishing sector, strengthening its actors in the generation and transmission of essential information for fishing traceability. This technological innovation obtains real-time information on the activity, helping to improve decision-making and control processes for the fisheries sustainability.

Technological innovation in action

TrazApp has been implemented in the Artisanal Fishing Landing Site (DPA) El Faro in Matarani, Arequipa and the fishing cooperatives of La Tortuga, La Islilla and San José in Piura and Lambayeque, with more than 200 users and 300 fishing vessels, which are constantly used the application to record your captures. During 2019, nearly 3,000 fishing trips and more than 28 thousand tons of landings were recorded. During these pilot test periods, WWF has worked with different competent government institutions in the sector, such as the Ministry of Production (PRODUCE), The General Directorate of Captaincy and Coast Guard (DICAPI), The Fisheries Development Fund (FONDEPES), Regional Governments, among others; to adapt the application to your needs and thus connect the information with the fishing stakeholders.

In this sense, WWF and DICAPI signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate in the promotion of sustainable fishing. Under this association, both organizations have agreed to design and implement the "Electronic Departure", so that artisanal fishers can request it from their mobile phones.

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TrazApp: technological revolution for the Peruvian artisanal fishing sector

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