Disintermediation and Reintermediation of Seafood Supply Chains for Social and Ecological Regeneration

Disintermediation and Reintermediation of Seafood Supply Chains for Social and Ecological Regeneration

Summary

This paper examines how restructuring seafood supply chains can both redress social inequities and restore marine ecosystems. Using an instrumental case study of Abalobi, a South African social enterprise, the authors show how a two-step process — technology-enabled disintermediation followed by relational reintermediation — disrupted exploitative intermediary power, created new market channels and traceability, and encouraged fishers to target ecologically sustainable species.

Methods combine two years of fieldwork, in-depth interviews with Abalobi staff and fishers, usage data from Abalobi’s apps and databases, and participant observation. The study maps mechanisms through which digital platforms shorten supply chains and how complementary human-led activities (market development, chef collaboration, training and logistics) rebuild meaningful producer–consumer relations.

Findings indicate that disintermediation alone is insufficient: it must be sequenced with reintermediation that embeds relationality, storytelling and market creation. In Abalobi’s case this led to measurable socioeconomic gains for fishers (higher, more predictable incomes, reduced indebtedness) and a marked shift in landings from red-listed to green-listed species, signalling restored proportionality and reduced fishing pressure.

Key Points

• Global seafood supply chains often drive ecological damage and marginalise small-scale fishers through extractive intermediation and opaque value capture.
• Abalobi’s model uses mobile apps and data collection to disintermediate traditional middlemen, increasing price transparency and direct market access for fishers.
• Reintermediation — led by Abalobi’s relational work with chefs, logistics, quality control and marketing — builds demand for undervalued, ecologically abundant species.
• The authors propose a two-step disintermediation→reintermediation process model: remove exploitative actors, then reintroduce purpose-driven intermediation to align markets with ecological limits.
• Empirical outcomes include improved fisher incomes, greater food security, higher savings and insurance uptake, and a shift from red-listed to green-listed species in marketplace sales.
• The approach combines digital traceability (QR, storytelling) with capacity-building and place-based governance to embed fishers in resource management and market design.
• Policy and practice implication: removing intermediaries is necessary but not enough — deliberate market-building and relational governance are required to sustain regenerative outcomes.

Why should I read this?

Quick and honest: if you care about fixing fisheries so people and the ocean both do better, this paper gives a clear, practical playbook. It proves tech isn’t a silver bullet — you need human relationships, chefs, logistics and markets to make regeneration stick. Useful if you work in sustainability, seafood businesses, development or supply-chain design and want evidence-backed steps to shift extractive systems to regenerative ones.

Source

Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jscm.70009?af=R