What is the EU Fisheries Control Regulation 2026?

The EU Fisheries Control Regulation, effective January 2026, requires all companies trading fish and seafood in the EU to implement fully digital traceability. Paper delivery notes or photos will no longer meet compliance standards. Catch and lot data must now be stored digitally, shared securely, and remain fully auditable.

Who must comply with the Fisheries Control Regulation?

All seafood businesses in the EU, including retailers, wholesalers, Cash & Carry, and foodservice operators (HoReCa), must comply. Every participant handling fish and seafood must be able to store and transfer digital catch and lot data across the supply chain.

Why is the EU moving to fully digital seafood traceability?

The EU aims to make seafood data faster, transparent, and audit-ready. Digital traceability ensures reliable supply chain information from net to plate, simplifies audits, improves compliance, and increases consumer and authority trust.

What are the key requirements for digital seafood traceability?

Under the new rules, traceability must be fully digital, meaning paper-based tracking will no longer be sufficient. All digital catch and lot data must flow seamlessly across the supply chain, from suppliers to downstream operators. Traceability systems also need to follow international standards, such as GS1, to ensure consistency, interoperability, and auditability.

Which products are affected by the Fisheries Control Regulation?

The regulation covers all fishery and aquaculture products traded within the EU, including fresh, frozen, processed, and repackaged seafood. Compliance requires maintaining digital traceability even when lots are split, merged, or repackaged across the supply chain.

How does osapiens ftrace help with Fisheries Control Regulation compliance?

osapiens ftrace provides a complete digital traceability solution that collects and stores catch and lot data, enables B2A and B2C data exchange with suppliers and customers, and visualizes the entire seafood supply chain. It ensures that your traceability processes are fully audit-ready, compliant, and interoperable with international standards, simplifying operational compliance and reporting.

What are the risks of non-compliance with the Fisheries Control Regulation?

Companies that fail to implement digital seafood traceability face regulatory fines, rejection of shipments, potential supply chain disruptions, and loss of customer or partner trust. Early adoption of compliant digital systems is crucial to avoid these operational and legal risks.

Mandatory Digital Traceability for Fish & Seafood

New EU Requirements for Retail, Wholesale & Foodservice Starting 2026

The EU is moving to a fully digital, paperless traceability system for fish and seafood. Beginning January 2026, companies trading fishery and aquaculture products in the EU must be able to receive, store and share digital catch and lot data in a way that is consistent, standard-based and auditable over time. Photos and copies of delivery notes will no longer be sufficient.

Our guide and webinar series explain what this means in daily operations and how osapiens ftrace helps you get ready for the digital traceability requirements.

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Register for the Webinar

Revised Fisheries Control Regulation: Why the EU Is Moving to Fully Digital Traceability

The European Commission has reformed the fisheries control system to make it fully digitalized, streamlined, and easier to verify. The goal: faster, interoperable and audit-ready data and better transparency across the entire seafood chain, from net to plate.

For seafood businesses across retail, wholesale and foodservice, this shift brings three immediate implications:

1. Traceability must be fully digital

Paper-based processes won’t meet expectations for audits or partner data requests. Traceability must persist even when lots are split, merged, or repackaged.

2. Data must flow across the entire supply chain

Every market participant handling seafood, including downstream operators like retail, wholesale, Cash & Carry and HoReCa, must be able to store and pass on digital catch & lot data.

3. International standards and supplier alignment are essential

Digital traceability only works if suppliers are ready and Track & Trace systems follow international standards. You need consistent and interoperable data to remain compliant.

Your Overview of the New Digital Traceability Rules

Our guide for the revised EU Fisheries Control Regulation explains what the mandatory digital traceability requirements mean for the seafood trade, and how osapiens ftrace helps you comply efficiently while strengthening transparency and trust with your customers and authorities.

The guide covers:

Key changes starting in 2026
Mandatory digital traceability requirements for wholesale, retail and foodservice
Important deadlines and the scope of affected products
Practical risks to be aware of
How osapiens ftrace supports digital catch data through supply chain visualization and B2A, B2C scenarios

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What's Inside:

Join the Webinar: How the Fish & Seafood Trade Can Prepare for the Revised Fishery Control Regulation

Together with experts from GS1, HEUKING and GLOBALG.A.P., we break down what companies need to have in place for the new digital traceability requirements, with real operational examples.

In this webinar:

Key changes relevant for wholesale, retail and foodservice companies
How GS1 standards enable compliance and reliable data sharing
The hidden legal risks in the revised Fishery Control Regulation
New osapiens ftrace components, and how they enable digital catch & lot data exchange with your customers and suppliers in practice

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Get Ready for the EU Fisheries Control Regulation 2026 with osapiens ftrace

Most provisions of the amended EU Fisheries Control Regulation take effect on January 10, 2026. To continue selling fish and seafood in the EU, businesses must have a digital Track & Trace solution that stores and passes on catch and lot data.

osapiens ftrace gives you a ready-to-use digital traceability system that can be rolled out today and adapted as the EU finalizes further requirements.

Submit the form to request a personalized demo and see how osapiens ftrace can make your seafood supply chain fully compliant, audit-ready, and traceable.

Helpful resources for your seafood traceability journey

Webinar

Fish & Seafood Trade

The EU’s revised Fishery Control Regulation is asking all business actors in the industry to provide digital catch data to authorities on request. For retailers, wholesalers, and foodservice companies, the stakes are high: the new rules require a review of existing processes and push for investment into ways to share digital catch data with their customers, even to the smallest players in HoReCa.

Learn more

Food Traceability

Create Trust through transparency.

Quality management, regulations and customer requirements increase the need for valid product data. Use a standards-based solution to communicate and receive information to increase transparency in the supply chain. Whether you produce or sell food – we can help!

Learn more

FAQs

Businesses should first assess their current traceability processes to identify any gaps or paper-based workflows. Suppliers must be aligned to provide compliant digital data, and companies should implement a traceability software solution, such as osapiens ftrace, that follows international standards. Staff training on managing and sharing digital catch and lot data is also essential to ensure smooth compliance.