A Permissioned Blockchain Testbed for Tuna Tracking

Issue: Application of distributed ledger technologies (commonly, but not exclusively, referred to as ‘blockchains’) is a powerful means to increase visibility and decrease temporal latency, while enhancing trust in data capture from critical transactional nodes within a supply chain and its associated document flows. These technologies are facilitating a global revolution for establishment of digital identity and trust.

Objective: The Cross-Border Threat Screening and Supply Chain Defense Center of Excellence in partnership with the Texas A&M University Department of Computer Science, created a realistic model of global tuna supply chain components, from fishing vessels through entry into the U.S., in a computational testbed environment.

Value Proposition: Successful implementation tested secure digital tracking of country of origin, quota limits, accurate tariff classifications, and compliance with government regulations, combined with the benefits of promoting environmentally sensitive harvest, sustainability, and ensuring legal labor.  Successful program implementation yielded a testbed environment for additional industries to apply these technologies to other systems requiring immutable capture of transactions, transaction patterns, and authenticity verification in complex, international supply chains.