Beta Assessment

✦ What each answer means — and how it affects your score

Lower score = better traceability. Available is always the goal — upload your own documentation to reach it.

✦ Partial vs Available explained

💡 The gap between Partial and Available is the gap report. A company with many Partial answers has the data somewhere in the supply chain — they just don't hold it directly yet. Every Partial you upgrade to Available drops your risk score. SmarTuna helps you get there.

Harvest / Catch

The act of catching fish at sea.

This is where your supply chain starts for wild-caught seafood. It represents the fishing event — the boat going out, the nets going in, and fish coming up. Add one node for each group of fishing activity that produced the same lot of product. You'll set the vessel count, FAO fishing area, catch dates, and species inside this node. SmarTuna will then cross-reference your vessels against RFMO registers, IUU blacklists, and flag state records automatically.

Example: Your company bought tuna from a fleet of 5 purse seiners that fished together in the Western Pacific. → Add 1 Harvest/Catch node, set vessel count to 5.

On-Vessel Processing

Processing that happens on the fishing boat itself, while still at sea.

Some fishing vessels don't just catch fish — they also process it on board before the product is offloaded. Common examples include heading and gutting (H&G), filleting, blast freezing, or mincing. If any of this happened on your fishing vessel before the product was transferred or landed, add this node after Harvest/Catch and connect them.

When to skip it: If the fish went straight from the net into the hold and wasn't touched until it reached port, skip this node. Also skip it if the transformation was simply live fish to frozen (whole round) and you don't have enough evidence to prove the processing happened on board — omitting this step means fewer questions to answer, and the processing can be captured in a land-based Processing node instead.

Transshipment

When catch is moved from the fishing vessel to a carrier or reefer vessel.

Transshipment is a high-risk step in the supply chain because it's where IUU fish can enter a legitimate shipment. It happens when the fishing vessel meets a refrigerated carrier vessel (reefer) at sea or in port and offloads its catch. The carrier then takes the fish to port. If your supply chain includes this step, you must add this node — SmarTuna will ask for the carrier vessel details, whether it was an authorised at-sea transshipment, and for the RFMO authorisation letter.

Note: Each separate transshipment event gets its own node — even if they happened on the same trip. If Vessel A transshipped to Carrier 1 and then to Carrier 2, that's 2 Transshipment nodes.

Landing / Discharge

When fish is unloaded at a port from a carrier vessel or container.

This node represents the moment product arrives at a port and is discharged from the vessel. Use this when the product came in on a carrier vessel (not the original fishing boat). SmarTuna will ask for the port name, whether it's a PSMA-designated port, the landing declaration, and EU approval status where relevant.

Typical flow: Harvest → Transshipment → Landing / Discharge → Processing

Direct Vessel Landing

When the fishing boat itself goes directly to port and unloads there.

Simpler than Landing/Discharge — use this when there was no carrier vessel involved. The fishing vessel sailed straight to port, docked, and the catch was unloaded directly. This is common in small-scale or coastal fisheries. SmarTuna will still ask for the port, landing records, and any applicable documentation, but won't require carrier vessel details.

Typical flow: Harvest → Direct Vessel Landing → Processing

Farm / Grow-out

The farm where fish or seafood is raised to harvest size.

This is the starting node for aquaculture supply chains. It represents the facility where the species is grown — whether it's a salmon cage in Norway, a shrimp pond in Vietnam, or a tilapia tank in Egypt. SmarTuna will ask for the farm's certifications (ASC, BAP, GLOBALG.A.P), welfare standards, feed sourcing, and environmental compliance. Most aquaculture chains start here.

Typical flow: Farm / Grow-out → Processing → Ship / Receive

Hatchery

Where juvenile fish (fry or fingerlings) are produced before going to the farm.

A hatchery breeds fish and produces juveniles that are then sent to a grow-out farm. You only need to include this node if your audit scope goes back that far — for example, if you're assessing a vertically integrated operation that controls its own broodstock, or if your buyer requires traceability to the hatchery level. SmarTuna will ask for registration, disease management records, and broodstock sourcing.

When to include it: Only if you own or source from a hatchery and your scope covers it. If you just buy fish from a farm and the hatchery is the farm's supplier, you may not need this.

Feedmill

Where fish feed is produced — typically using fishmeal and fish oil from wild-caught fish.

Feed is one of the most complex parts of an aquaculture supply chain because it often contains marine ingredients (fishmeal, fish oil) sourced from wild capture fisheries. If your assessment scope includes feed ingredient sourcing — for example, for IFFO RS or MarinTrust compliance — include this node. It sits upstream of the hatchery or farm. SmarTuna will ask about the feed mill's certifications and the origin of marine ingredients.

When to include it: Only if you need to demonstrate responsible sourcing of feed ingredients as part of your assessment. Most importers don't need to go this far back.

Aggregation / Disaggregation

When lots are combined into one batch, or one batch is split into smaller ones.

This is one of the trickiest nodes to get right. Aggregation is when product from multiple sources (different vessels, different farms, different fishing trips) is mixed together into a single lot. Disaggregation is when a large batch is split into smaller ones for different customers or destinations. Both must be documented carefully because they break the one-to-one link between the product and its origin. SmarTuna will ask for the input lot codes and output lot codes so the audit trail stays intact.

Example: A cold store receives tuna from 3 different vessels and mixes it into one container lot. → Add an Aggregation node between the Harvest nodes and the next step.

Processing

Any land-based facility where the product is transformed or prepared.

Processing covers everything from simple activities like weighing and packing, all the way to filleting, canning, smoking, cooking, mincing, or freezing. Add one Processing node per facility. If the product goes to Factory A and then to Factory B, that's two separate Processing nodes connected in sequence. SmarTuna will ask for the facility's food safety certifications (HACCP, BRC, FSSC 22000 etc), EU approval number, and welfare practices.

Don't confuse with On-Vessel Processing — that node is only for processing that happens on the fishing boat at sea. This Processing node is always land-based.

Ship / Receive

When the product is shipped out or officially received — the handover point.

This node represents any movement of product between parties or locations — it is not always the last node. Use it whenever product is shipped, transported, or transferred: export from country A to country B, domestic transport from Processor 1 to Processor 2, delivery to a cold store, or handover to an importer. It captures the chain of custody at every transfer point, which is how SmarTuna can confirm there was no mixing or substitution between steps. You can have multiple Ship / Receive nodes in one chain. SmarTuna will ask for the commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, and any applicable import compliance documents (SIMP for US imports, IFTP for EU imports).

Example: Harvest → Processing (Thailand) → Ship/Receive → Processing (UK) → Ship/Receive → Ship/Receive (final delivery). Each handover gets its own node.