Case Study – Digital Traceability and Legal Origin Accreditation (AOL) Project for the Macha Fishery in Chile

Challenge

The macha fishery in Chile presents structural challenges in terms of legal origin control, product traceability, and marketing authorization, particularly in contexts of high pressure on the resource and multiple actors involved in the chain.

The Legal Origin Accreditation (AOL) process required by SERNAPESCA demands timely, structured, and verifiable information, which has historically generated operational friction, dependence on manual processes, and difficulties in ensuring the continuity of legal marketing of the resource.

Solution

Shellcatch SpA developed and implemented a SaaS technology solution with a mobile application, complemented by traceability labels with unique and unrepeatable identifiers, specifically designed to align with SERNAPESCA's processes and requirements.

The solution enables:

• Associate each product unit with a unique Label, ensuring individual identification;
• Record key information on origin, extraction, and handling directly in the field;
• Validate Labels through the mobile application;
• Transmit the required information for AOL to SERNAPESCA through a technological interface (API); and
• Enable tracking of the status of marketing authorization requests.

The system was conceived as a technological facilitator, using the users' official credentials with SERNAPESCA and fully respecting the authority's attributions.

Impact

• Operational implementation in less than 4 months, from design to field use;
• Nearly 1,000 tons of macha digitally traced, with structured and available information;
• Effective adoption by artisanal and commercial sector actors;
• Significant reduction of operational friction in AOL and marketing authorization processes;
• Accessible economic model, based on unit labels without monthly fixed costs;
• Replicable and scalable technological base for other benthic fisheries.

Conclusion

The macha project demonstrates that it is possible to strengthen traceability and legal origin control systems through simple, low-cost technological solutions aligned with existing regulatory processes.

The experience creates a concrete precedent for the modernization of fisheries management and the replicability of the model in other fisheries of national interest.