Our main goal is to develop a mobile software application (Chile es Mar App) aimed at bridging
the information gap observed among science, fishermen and final consumers in relation to the
biology and ecology of exploited species, fishing regulation, market opportunities and traceability
of marine resources of small-scale fisheries in Chile. This application is a novel in our country and in Latin America, as there is no such effort not only working already but with the contribution of many important actors such as the: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC); the Marine Conservation Center (CCM); the National Ocean and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA); the United States Embassy in Chile; the renowned Latin American chef Carlo von Mühlenbrock acting as the leader of other top award winning chef's and restaurants like "El rincón del Poeta" Trip advisor's twice year winner award as the Nº1 restaurant. Therefore it has the potential to be replicated in small-scale fisheries in other countries.
Our specific goals are:
(a) To develop the application Chile es Mar App:
(a.1) Fishermen mobile app; for loading offers and catches.
(a.2) Fishing village web app; for loading offers and catches.
(a.3) Consumers mobile app.
(a.4) Data loading web app; for the chefs, scientific and regulations officers
(b) To provide a social network interface, that allows the exchange of: (i) gastronomic information
about artisanal marine resources, raising the interest of consumers over a wider variety of
resources and thus promoting the diversification of the consumption of those resources, and (ii)
information about the real-time market availability, prices and basic traceability elements (fishing
spot and fishing gear) of artisanal marine resources.
(c) To compile and pack scientific and regulatory information to promote sustainable small-scale
fisheries. Using this information the App will (i) provide consumers information about the
diversity of marine resources that small-scale fisheries targets, (ii) offer recommendations for a
responsible consumption, accounting for biological, conservation and management variables, (iii)
inform artisanal fishers about biological and management aspects of fisheries resources, and (iv)
foster a collective awareness on the conservation of marine resources, by developing a sense of
ownership relative to the marine national heritage.
(d) To test and manage the impact of the App in a pilot set of local small-scale fisheries
associations.
(e) To establish the foundation for traceability programs. Traceability and certification of fisheries
have not yet permeated in the Chilean society. In fact, only last year the first Chilean fishery was
certified (and it is an artisanal fishery). The resource background information provided by
fisherman, together with the opinions on purchases provided by the consumers, represent data that
will serve, following suitable analysis, as alternative traceability elements. Although this
information will not be subjected to controls or audits, it can be integrated in traceability indicators
developed according specific criteria, launching the foundations to develop efficient traceability
programs for artisanal marine resources.
The list of goals above will deliver a number of expected outputs of our proposal, which will be
developed at different levels. The goals (a) to (d) will produce clear measurable outputs.
Incorporating traceability as a critical issue in our society, even at a pilot scale, and real changes in
fisher’s income may be observed over a larger temporal scale.
The potential impact is to observe a change in the offer/demand curve of resources traded by artisanal fishers, pushed by consumers who are in reach of newly and trusted information on species previously unknown. Also using digital traceability as a factor to understand the consumption of marine resources will be more evident in future steps of development of this pilot project.
