Harnessing community-led technology to support regenerative small-scale fisheries

The world’s oceans are threatened by biodiversity loss and climate change. Many fisheries are now overfished, with 30% currently overexploited and 60% fully utilized. To address the crisis, governments, marine scientists and the general public must first try to understand the scope of the problem. However, they lack critical data about the origin of fish catches, making it difficult to distinguish between responsible practices and those that are illegal, unreported or unregulated (IUU). Even coastal communities that fish sustainably have had no reliable way to document the source of their catches.

Abalobi is a South-African-based nonprofit created in 2017 to tackle overfishing practices. The organization developed and now manages technologies for data collection, seafood traceability and full documentation of fisheries for fair and transparent supply chains. The objective is to protect small-scale fishing communities and nurture their ocean stewardship using data, while providing consumers with better information about where their seafood comes from.

With Abalobi’s solutions, the challenges of overfishing are being effectively addressed. Initially, 60% of the fish logged on the Abalobi app were species classified as “of concern”. Now, more than 90% are from ecologically resilient fish stocks, as confirmed by a fully traceable supply chain. Abalobi now aims to scale its South African operations to increase the number of fisher communities served from 7,000 to 21,000 by 2026 by building a movement around their solutions with Restaurant Chefs and by scaling a Community Food Security Programme through the development of micro-entrepreneurs.

Geographical Scope
South Africa
Duration
2024 - 2026
Status
Ongoing
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Access to technologies for traceability and transparency is necessary to engage with markets that increasingly demand sustainable foods.

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Initially, 60% of the fish logged on the Abalobi app were species classified as “of concern”. Now, more than 90% are from ecologically resilient fish stocks, as confirmed by a fully traceable supply chain.

4FOLD website ABALOBI 16x9 MEDIA2
4FOLD website Bream Lifestyle 1