Exploring IoT & Blockchain: From Tuna Tracking to Sustainable Palm Oil

At its core, the Internet of Things (IoT) digitizes physical assets, while blockchain—celebrated for enabling decentralized cryptocurrency transactions—provides a tamper‑proof ledger that eliminates the need for a central authority.

Both technologies, individually or combined with artificial intelligence, promise to reshape businesses across nearly every sector. Yet, assessing their true impact early in adoption is challenging, especially given the evolving definitions and proposed applications of IoT and blockchain.

While IoT adoption currently outpaces blockchain, estimating their disruptive potential—particularly when used together—remains complex. Key questions arise: How far can IoT blur the boundaries of the physical world? Is blockchain well suited for tracking tangible assets? Can these technologies transform seafood supply chains or boost yield and traceability in palm oil plantations?

In a recent SAP analyst‑led panel at a blockchain media event, experts examined blockchain’s supply‑chain promise. Three of the five panelists represented tech firms, while executives from Bumble Bee Seafoods and a palm‑oil exporter highlighted the technology’s broad reach.

The sustainable fishing movement has accelerated, driven by groups such as the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, Seafood Watch, and the Marine Stewardship Council. But can consumers confidently distinguish between sustainably sourced tuna and conventional options? And how can traditional fishing operations increase success rates while ensuring accurate fish tracking?

Senior VP and CIO of Bumble Bee Seafoods, Tony Costa, explained the limitations of the early supply‑chain stages: “Our fishermen in northern Indonesia operate 25‑foot boats with 25‑horsepower engines, venturing 5–10 miles out to sea to hand‑catch tuna.”

Manual processes leave room for significant efficiency gains, Costa noted, though overhauling the early supply‑chain phase would require a substantial shift. During a visit to Indonesia, he envisioned RFID tags tracking each fish upon arrival from fishing boats. “However,” he explained, “fishermen already gut the fish at sea, bag them, and record their name, date, and location.”

Bumble Bee Seafoods aims to extend technology across its supply chain to boost efficiency and transparency. “We want blockchain to capture data, then revisit IoT: How can we instrument the boat, the fish, or each bag?” Costa asked. “[IoT] will enable unprecedented supply‑chain optimization and integration.”

One concrete idea is a “Go Fish” app that lets migratory tuna fishers share real‑time location data, helping all participants triangulate schools of tuna. Currently, one fisherman may return with five catches while another leaves empty. By communicating while out at sea, fishers could collaborate to locate richer fishing grounds. Blockchain could then precisely trace the provenance of a specific can of tuna, with accuracy ensured through existing auditing processes.

Panelist Abhishek Singh, head of IT and digital for palm oil at Apical, agreed that IoT complements blockchain by providing real‑time data acquisition. His company seeks strategies to enhance productivity per tree and plantation. Traditional processes are labor‑intensive; the challenge is moving from pen and paper to automated data capture. Tablet computers have eased this transition, allowing field workers to photograph trees and verify harvest data.

Digitalist magazine reports that the palm‑oil industry is exploring tech‑based solutions to improve lagging productivity and address reputation concerns. Only 19 % of palm oil is harvested sustainably, according to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.

Other producers employ connected sensors to monitor water saturation, humidity, and other environmental variables. Drone imagery combined with image analysis and machine learning can create digital twins of each tree. These models, coupled with soil sensors, weather stations, and satellite data, guide precise fertilization, irrigation, and harvest decisions.

The open‑source, blockchain‑focused Hyperledger organization has also explored distributed ledger solutions to close transparency gaps in the palm‑oil supply chain. A plantation worker could use a mobile device to record fruit from a specific geolocation or tree, noting the date, time, and operator name.

Blockchain’s disruptive potential remains debated. Proponents, such as authors of “Blockchain: Transforming Your Business and Our World,” argue the technology could disrupt almost any industry involving transactions or tracking. Conversely, the World Economic Forum suggests blockchain’s viability is limited to narrower use cases and advises against its application to physical assets. Zulfikar Ramzan, CTO at RSA, describes blockchain as an “idealized abstraction of a ledger” and cautions that IoT‑blockchain integrations may introduce trust issues that blockchain seeks to eliminate.

One of the most popular enterprise blockchain applications is pairing it with IoT to drive supply‑chain traceability and efficiency. A recent SAP survey identified the combination of supply‑chain and IoT as the most promising blockchain use case. Tokenization—using distributed ledger technology to track physical assets—continues to attract research and pilot projects, though skeptics question its practicality when merging IoT and blockchain.