Fujairah joins UAE digital fisheries system to strengthen traceability

Dubai: Fujairah has adopted the UAE’s first integrated digital fisheries platform, expanding a national effort to track fishing activity and verify seafood origins.

Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply click here.

The SFS Fisheries system, developed by Seafood Souq, enables real-time monitoring through mobile tools, digital logbooks, and landing validation. It was first introduced in Sharjah at Souq Al Jubail.

The rollout in Fujairah follows a memorandum of understanding between the Fujairah Fishermen Association and Seafood Souq, supported by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.

Commenting on the partnership, Sheikh Fahim Al Qasimi, co-founder of Seafood Souq, said: “Partnerships in vital sectors such as food and seafood are essential to building more efficient production systems, bringing together scientific knowledge and operational expertise across the value chain.

"Traceability and transparency are no longer optional; they are fundamental to how global markets assess quality, build trust, and determine competitiveness.”

How it works

Each vessel is assigned a QR code linking to verified data such as catch type, origin, and quantity, allowing full traceability from sea to sale.

Early results in Sharjah show more than 140,000 kilograms of seafood tracked across over 130 vessels, improving validation speed and reducing errors.

In Fujairah, landings will be recorded digitally and supported by catch certificates confirming origin and sourcing practices.

The UAE seafood market, valued at about $1.49 billion, is seeing rising demand and increased focus on transparency, positioning digital traceability as a key requirement for future growth.