The Chicago Council on Global Affairs: Corporate Water and Agriculture Working Group
Water sustainability through blockchain and protein distribution within the seafood industry
On October 10, 2018 the Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ Corporate Water and Agriculture Working Group hosted a series of panels related to the 2019 Global Food Security Report. I presented on water sustainability through blockchain and protein distribution within the seafood industry. I focused on how Fishcoin leverages blockchain to enable incentives for data sharing across seafood supply chains. Data access enables better visibility into otherwise opaque supply chains. Partners have been discussing using Fishcoin to help measure ocean acidification and educate consumers about the benefits of High Pressure Processing.
According to the NRDC, unsafe water kills more people each year than war and all other forms of violence combined. Meanwhile, our drinkable water sources are finite: Less than 1 percent of the earth’s freshwater is actually accessible to us. Without action, the challenges will only increase by 2050, when global demand for freshwater is expected to be one-third greater than it is now.
Ocean Pollution
According to NOAA, Eighty percent of ocean pollution (also called marine pollution) originates on land — whether along the coast or far inland. Contaminants such as chemicals, nutrients, and heavy metals are carried from farms, factories, and cities by streams and rivers into our bays and estuaries; from there they travel out to sea. Meanwhile, marine debris — particularly plastic — is blown in by the wind or washed in via storm drains and sewers. Our seas are also sometimes spoiled by oil spills and leaks — big and small — and are consistently soaking up carbon pollution from the air. The ocean absorbs as much as a quarter of man-made carbon emissions.
Marine ecosystems are threatened by marine debris, which can strangle, suffocate, and starve animals. Much of this solid debris, such as plastic bags and soda cans, gets swept into sewers and storm drains and eventually out to sea, turning our oceans into trash soup and sometimes consolidating to form floating garbage patches. Discarded fishing gear and other types of debris are responsible for harming more than 200 different species of marine life.
Ocean Acidification
Fishcoin partnered with KATHARINE LEIGH to create Fishcoin OA, a finalist in MIT’s Solve competition. But what is FishcoinOA? It’s a project that combines seafood traceability with ocean acidification research. Watch the video below for a quick summary.
“Ocean Acidification,” the rapid decrease in our ocean’s pH due to CO2 emissions that has resulted in our oceans being 30% more acidic now than they were 200 years ago. Ocean acidification is expected to cost the world economy $1Trillion a year by the end of the century, and is a threat to human food security, the loss of which can lead to social disruption, migration, and refugee situations. Clearly, we need adaptation and mitigation strategies, pronto. But identifying potential strategies requires data, lots of it.
Enter FishcoinOA. FishcoinOA takes our open and immutable Fishcoin network’s unique ability to incentivize data collection across the supply chain and uses it to enable low-cost, hyper-localized, and inclusive scientific research. In FishcoinOA, fishers play a critical role. By hooking up their boats with a bit of tech, they’re not only a valuable source of food, but also of data. Just as a satellite roams the Earth collecting image data, these fishers will roam the coastlines collecting environmental data! In exchange for submitting their data to the Fishcoin blockchain, the fishers will receive Fishcoin tokens. And remember, these tokens can be converted into top-up credits for prepaid mobile plans, so they’re pretty useful.
High Pressure Processing
High pressure processing (HPP) uses the weight over 15 times the deepest part of the ocean to preserve and sterilize food by neutralizing certain microorganisms and enzymes. HPP has a minimal effect on molecular bonds within the food product, thus maintaining both the sensory and nutritional aspects of the product.
Micro-organisms and some enzymes can be deactivated by HPP, which can extend the shelf life while preserving the sensory and nutritional characteristics of the product. HPP can pasteurize food products with decreased processing time, reduced energy usage, less waste, at low temperatures and does not include the use of food additives.
Food products are sealed and placed into a steel compartment containing a liquid, often water, and pumps are used to create pressure. Because HPP is not not heat-based, the molecular bonds are not affected, causing no change in the food’s taste. This retention of intramolecular bonds means that HPP does not destroy vitamins, maintaining the nutritional value of the food.
Fishcoin data can be combined with data from the HPP equipment to present consumers with a storied seafood experience that connects story of the supply chain, the recipe inspired and the health benefits. A 2D barcode can be applied to packaging and scanned with a mobile phone to present the experience to our consumer.
Interested in becoming a Fishcoin partner?
Companies and organizations throughout the seafood industry are signing up almost daily to be rollout partners in the Fishcoin ecosystem. If you would like to know more about joining our community of partners please read through our white paper, and contact our team.
