Traceability in the Fishing Industry, the Cornish port of Newlyn, United Kingdom

The Newlyn Pier and Harbour Commissioners have invested in TraceFish and selected Nesco's TraceWay
Rontec's Joint Venture company, Nesco Weighing Limited, has netted a deal to supply a full weighing and grading package worth more than £300,000 to the Cornish port of Newlyn.
Nesco was the only weighing and grading supplier to sit on the European fish industry's technical consortium on traceability.
That consortium led to the introduction of "TraceFish" - a voluntary standard for an electronic system capable of providing chain traceability from catcher to retailer.
Rontec Ltd. has played a major part in the development of the system. The complex software, written mainly in Visual Basic.net by Rontec, logs all the data for Vessels, Fish Species and Landings in XML Schema databases. Rontec have spent a great deal of time developing the SQL Server and in designing the touchscreen-interfaced special computer system used in the Traceway.
Traceway can accept data downloaded from Nesco's Wavecheetah system or information entered manually. It will log the progress of the catch through the fish market, packing plant and retail chain stages.
Newlyn has ordered 10 Traceways, a single lane grader and a twin-lane grader. The Newlyn Pier and Harbour Commissioners have invested in Traceway as part of a programme worth more than £6-million aimed at establishing the port as one of the front runners in terms of meeting European regulations even before they take effect.
The Commissioners are confident of securing better quality and higher prices as a result of the programme, and thereby protecting Newlyn's status as the highest value fish landing port in England.

"We are the number one port in England and Wales in terms of value", said Tony Woodhams, the Newlyn Fisheries Project Officer.

"Landings last year were worth £19.5-million, but we recognise that with quotas as they are the only way you can add value is by looking at quality.
"We will be the first port to have full traceability linked to the European standard. The idea is to ensure traceability is there at every stage in the chain. You should be able to buy your fish and link it right back the vessel that caught it, the time and the location."
Gordon Norman, Nesco's Technical Sales Director, said Traceway is a revolutionary system.
"It creates an integrated traceability system compliant with the EU standard but also designed for individual applications and customers' specific requirements.
."It is a collection of building blocks put together and configured for an individual process, be that on board, at an auction, during transport or processing, at the fish farm or during packaging for the retailer or end user."
Mike Myers, Industry Development Officer at the Seafish Industry Authority in Hull, said that Nesco won the Newlyn order based on the fact that the system complies with the Tracefish standard.

"We are trying to encourage traceability, not just to meet legal requirements but also to help producers meet the requirements of the market," he said.