Huw Thomas, Executive Director of the Global Dialog on Seafood Traceability (GDST) and Øyvind Ihle, CEO of the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative (GSSI), will participate in sessions on digital technology and shrimp welfare, respectively, at The Center for Responsible Seafood's annual Shrimp Summit at the Grand Hyatt Bali, Nusa Dua, on June 23-25, 2025. In addition, GDST and the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) will convene a full-day workshop on seafood traceability on June 22 at the same location.
Traceability is increasingly important across the seafood industry as regulations emerge that require more scrupulous tracking of how and where seafood is sourced. GDST is a global leader in efforts to promote standardization within the expanding reach of traceability requirements and will use the workshop as an opportunity to introduce new technologies that facilitate traceability and to engage and educate participants from across the fish- and shrimp-processing spectrum.
In conjunction with the Indonesian Pole and Line and Handline Fisheries Association (AP2HI) and MMAF, GDST will highlight the adoption of the GDST standard into the Indonesian Government Stelina platform that ensures domestic seafood companies are sharing data with the government and international buyers in a standardized way. The rollout starts with tuna and shrimp processing plants entering data in the correct format and allows them to demonstrate digital interoperable traceability. As a standard for this data, GDST will help participants understand and align with the data requirements so that various traceability systems can communicate and share information.
Mr. Thomas will also take part in the TCRS Shrimp Summit that kicks off on Monday, 23 June. He will lend his expertise to the session on Digital Technologies.
Animal health and welfare are also becoming a more prominent concern of seafood buyers and producers. Mr. Ihle will participate in the Shrimp Welfare session of the Shrimp Summit to summarize GSSI’s Aquaculture Health and Welfare Gap Analysis. On behalf of TCRS, working with an Independent Expert, GSSI reviewed aquaculture standards, international regulations and guidelines, and sourcing policies, providing an overview of existing practices and identifying potential areas for improvement.
