Slow Fish 201: Where Innovation, Technology and Values Meet, the next webinar on fraud in the seafood supply chain. 

Can technology like onboard monitoring, QR codes or tracking software support Slow Fish and LocalCatch.org values? Should it? In the third webinar in the Slow Fish 201 series we'll talk about how communities can bond around seafood values, and perhaps use technology to support those values. 

Last month we dove into the complex federal enforcement matrix responsible for policing fraud laws in and around the seafood supply chain. Congressman Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) committed to promoting legislation that supports domestic and community-based fishermen and the health of our oceans while looking for more ways to minimize fraud. We also talked about community accountability as one possible method for addressing fraud and uplifting key values.

In this week’s webinar, discussions about communal accountability will continue and explore questions of whether and how existing and emerging technologies can reinforce values such as traceable and simple supply chains, community-based fisheries, fair price and access, honoring the ocean, and eating with the ecosystem. Some new technologies are controversial such as onboard monitoring which, untethered to any suite of values, may unintentionally benefit those with the largest ecological footprint and displace those with the smallest. Other supply chain technologies, such as QR codes and real-time vessel tracking, are quickly growing while opportunities and challenges are still coming to light. 

Driving the discussion will be a panel of experts you'll want to hear:

·  Niaz Dorry, Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance Coordinating Director, has helped craft and uphold core values that strengthen community-based fisheries for decades, and will highlight Slow Fish and Local Catch values and how they fit in the community accountability model. 

·  Nic Mink, President & Chief Salmon Steward, Sitka Salmon Shares, will discuss how these values fit into the community supported fishery model and ways Sitka Salmon Shares is looking at using technology to support those values.

·  Brett Alger, NOAA National Observer Program's Electronic Technologies Coordinator, will provide an overview of on-board monitoring systems, how NOAA uses them, and the benefits and challenges to fishermen and observers.

·  Gil Sylvia: Director, Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station and Professor, Marine Resource Economics, Oregon State University, will give an overview of the evolution of traceability and tracking software like Fish Trax, the benefits and challenges of using it, other technologies such as QR codes, and a glimpse at how future technological advances might better support values.

As with all of our webinars, we want to hear from you during the Q&A. Are you using technology in some way to support Slow Fish or Local Catch values? What are the benefits and challenges you've faced? Where do you see the technology headed?

The Slow Fish 201 Webinar series is produced in collaboration with SlowFish, Local Catch, One Fish Foundation, Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance,  and Ecotrust.