What does being traceable mean for fish?

Before it gets to your plate, fish often moves through a lot of hands. It’s imported and exported more than most other proteins, which means there are more chances for it to be fraudulently labeled.

For instance, Oceana Canada found 44% of fish had the wrong species on the label. That doesn’t count fish with false labels that says things like “local” “sustainable” or “wild” when they are not.

Enter: traceability.

When you buy a fish with an eco-label like Best Aquaculture Practices and Marine Stewardship Council, that means there is a complete record trail of where that fish came from.

Here at Springhills, we use an open-source app called AquaManager to track everything that happens in a fish’s life:

• who its parents are,
• what it ate and from what feed batches,
• every time its moved, graded, weighed or sold,
• its water quality and temperatures,
• when we clean their tanks,
• our daily visual inspections of the tanks,
• and the list goes on and on.

In the photo, you see us scanning the PIT tag on one of our breeders to identify who she is and track where her eggs go.

(Though after several years of spawning, we often get to know them personally and give them nicknames that are far more interesting than 0274905020!)

And traceability isn’t just the farm.. processors and feed mills have to maintain complete records that are audited every year to keep our eco-certifications!

All this means that when you buy fish with an eco-label, you know you’re getting the tasty, local and ethical fish you expect!