A comprehensive information system for managing, tracking, and marketing seafood

Contemporary demands on public resource managers and the private seafood industry require new approaches for supplying resource and product information consistent with a future in which the stock and flow of information is effectively shared among scientist, producer, and marketer. This will support sustainability, improve profitability and efficiency, and also build a community of common interest ranging from resource manager to seafood consumer.  ProjectCROOS (Collaborative Research on Oregon Ocean Salmon) is an industry and science partnership designed to address the recent closures of the West Coast salmon fishery.  The project uses near real-time genetic, oceanographic, and fishery information to reduce harvests of weak salmon stocks, avoid major closures, and improve economic performance of the industry.  A fundamental feature is the use of barcodes to track harvested fish and related near real-time information.  A website -- PacificFishTrax.com -- maps, analyzes, tracks, and communicates information for scientists, resource managers, fishermen, processors, retailers, consumers, and the public.  A recent marketing project uses the website to link local fishermen-retailers-consumers, and track seafood product information.  Consumer response to the test product and kiosk concepts are described as is the use of the website for conducting economic, policy, market and consumer research.