Digitalisation has been a continuous process over the last decades. In the fishery sector, this covers landing forecasts, digitalisation of auctions (with the possibility to access sales remotely) and interconnection of auctions (to access different auctions via the same platform).
At EU level, diverse situations can be observed , with some auctions highly digitalised and interconnected (mainly in northern EU Member States) and other auctions with almost no digitalisation (mainly in southern EU Member States). Intermediate situations can also be observed, for instance, with high digitalisation but low interconnection.
Stakeholders generally reported positive impacts of digitalisation in terms of functioning of the internal market. From fishers’ perspective, it provides a larger market and allows for remote auctions to attract buyers. From buyers’ point of view, it allows for access to a larger offer. However, in some areas, some reluctance towards further digitalisation has been observed by some stakeholders. Mainly, as it may increase competition at first sale stage (with a possible negative impact on prices) and could represent a “game changer” at local level with possible impacts on the structure of the value chain. Overall, the interconnection of sales still faces some challenges related to technical barriers (in terms of harmonisation of procedures and information technology (IT) tools) and stakeholder willingness.