Project: RFID Trial (Supply Chain Development)
Team: Fish Technology
Location: UK wide
Division: Technology and Training
Section: At Sea  On Land  

The weighing, labelling and forward information system, which was developed earlier by Seafish, now includes RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology. This involves attaching RFID chips to fishboxes and recording information about the fish in that box, eg, species, size, weight of fish, date of boxing.

The information on the microchip can be read electronically anywhere in the supply chain, from the auction floor to a processing factory. The information can then be updated as the box passes along the supply chain, eg name of buyer on the auction, name of haulier and destination.

This RFID technology has been successfully applied to other food distribution chains to improve efficiencies of distribution and increase economic returns. FIFG funding was obtained for the development and trial of a similar system at sea for fish boxes and this was carried out in 2003/4. This year we plan a demonstration trial using a database where the RFID information will be updated by psion netpad pda at distribution nodal points, eg auction/ haulage or processor intake, box wash etc, in commercial circumstances.

Contact: Trevor Misson
Position: Senior Fish Technologist
Tel No: 01482 327 837
Fax No: 01482 223 310
Email: t_misson@seafish.co.uk