Spurred forth in part by a new internal policy, the eight PNA Pacific Island nations and the associated Tokelau territory responsible for the Pacifical logo plan on being fully blockchain compliant by the end of next month, Maurice Brownjohn, Commercial Manager of the PNA Office, announced during this week's SeaWeb Seafood Summit (SWSS18) taking place in Barcelona, Spain.

Pacifical, the PNA's market development company, will launch a blockchain-compliant, Ethereum-based vessel-to-consumer traceability system in partnership with Thailand-based service provider Atato by the end of July 2018, Brownjohn said. The move aligns with the PNA's new Smart Ocean States Policy and positions Pacifical as "a pioneer of the first large scale blockchain initiative within the 42 billion dollar tuna industry," he added.

Equipped with smart contracts and IPFS decentralized storage, the new Ethereum system will integrate well with Pacifical's developing traceability solutions, Brownjohn said. Meaning that, soon enough, more than 200 million consumer units of Pacifical tuna per year will be verified at the blockchain level. All products bearing the Pacifical and MSC logo will be given a unique tracking code that can be traced across the entire expanse of the supply chain journey courtesy of the blockchain system. 

"We are covering all details of these sustainably-caught, MSC-certified tuna products reaching millions of consumers all over the globe. Our people would fully…appreciate your support." said Brownjohn during a SWSS18 panel discussion. 

Additionally, the system will be able to provide "an unprecedented level of transparency and traceability," for over 100 large fishing vessels, according to Pacifical.  

"Environmental groups, retailers, consumers, and certifications bodies all over the world will be able to verify live on Ethereum's public blockchain exactly how their sustainable Pacifical tuna was caught, by which captain, vessel, area and period, as well as where and when it was processed." said Pacifical in a press release related to the launch. 

"The information will be collected from linking all information sources within the global tuna supply chain from the fishing boat through the production process up to the final point of sale." the company added.