If you run a seafood distribution business, you already know where your time goes. It's not buying, selling, or talking to customers — the parts of the job you actually got into this business for. It's the typing. Retyping a pack out sheet into a purchase order. Transcribing a voicemail into a sales order. Digging through three systems to answer a question that should take ten seconds.
For most software companies, proximity to customers means a Zoom call. For BlueTrace, it means walking downstairs.
Over the last year, BlueTrace has grown our office Boston's historic Fish Pier, one of North America's most iconic seafood hubs. The move wasn't driven by office space, tax incentives, or access to venture capital. It was driven by a simple belief: the best seafood technology is built where seafood happens.
Guest Post from a client with deep experience in seafood. He asked to remain nameless to protect the innocent.
Seafood businesses live and die by margins. The top performers in the industry operate on a typical gross margin of 25%—and they know their numbers cold. "I buy lobster at this price, so I must sell it at that price." With a spreadsheet and discipline, it's manageable.
Lack of timely data is sending seafood companies towards a cliff.
If there’s one thing every seafood distributor and processor agrees on, it’s this: time on the floor beats time behind a screen. Yet margins, regulations, and customers all demand more data, faster answers, and fewer mistakes. At BlueTrace, we’ve spent years making traceability and inventory management simpler. Now we’re starting to take the next leap—bringing the power of AI directly into your daily seafood operation workflow.
Below is a look at two AI-powered capabilities we’re thinking about building to help you work smarter, move product faster, and keep your team focused on what matters most.
Mastering Inventory: Key to Success in Seafood Distribution
We are excited to announce the launch of our latest feature in BlueTrace Inventory Management: Seafood Processing. This addition empowers seafood businesses to manage product transformations with ease and accuracy, ensuring real-time inventory updates and comprehensive traceability throughout the supply chain.
BlueTrace Celebrates TSC: Because Seafood Needs Clear Labels
This year, we made waves—and not just because we printed over 8 million seafood and shellfish tags and labels (enough to stretch from Boston to South Carolina and back!). Our growing team of 10 rose to the challenge, rolling out major product enhancements that streamlined workflows, improved accuracy, and brought greater clarity to our customers’ seafood operations. Many steps closer to simplifying the seafood supply chain.
Let's talk about finding the right system to run your seafood operation. I know it can feel overwhelming - you want something that'll make your life easier, help you grow, and keep you in control. The good news? You've got options. Let me break them down for you.
Why seafood companies need better tech systems
Why We Joined the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST)
At BlueTrace, we’re excited to announce that we’ve officially joined the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST). The relevance of GDST has grown significantly in recent years, and we’re happy to embrace its mission of bringing transparency, accountability, and efficiency to the seafood supply chain.
We’re excited to announce our latest features: Fees and QuickBooks Purchase Orders (POs) integration. These updates, developed with feedback from customers like Low Country and The Clam Man, are designed to reduce friction in your invoicing and purchasing workflows. Whether you’re managing fees or automating purchase orders in QuickBooks, these new tools will save time and improve accuracy. Here’s what you need to know!
BlueTrace continues to add more clients and launch innovative solutions for the seafood industry. With over 7.5 million tags/labels printed and over 470 clients, BlueTrace has grown from being a niche solution for shellfish companies to the leading seafood technology company in North America.
We’re excited to share a series of important updates from our August 2024 releases, aimed at improving sales order management, purchasing, and enhancing our QuickBooks integration. Whether you’re managing packed lots, purchases, or invoices, these features are designed to save you time and provide better visibility into your operations. Let’s take a look at the highlights!
We are excited to announce the release of Purchases, iOS 7.5, and several additional enhancements. This update is designed to streamline your purchasing processes, improve inventory tracking, and offer greater flexibility for businesses that handle sales and purchases retroactively. Whether you’re managing purchases, sales orders, or inventory expectations, these new features will simplify your operations. Let’s dive into what’s new!
We’re excited to announce our latest update, Sales Order Feedback. This release is all about responding quickly to customer feedback, addressing usability concerns, and fixing key issues to make your sales order process smoother and more reliable. Whether you’re managing sales orders, packing out, or loading up, these updates are designed to make your life easier. Let’s dive into the changes and improvements in this release!
We’re excited to announce the release of QuickBooks V1 Integration! This powerful feature is designed to save you time and reduce the hassle of double data entry by seamlessly connecting BlueTrace with QuickBooks. Whether you’re using QuickBooks Online or Desktop, this integration ensures that your invoicing process is faster, more accurate, and fully automated. Let’s take a closer look at how this integration can transform your workflow.
We’re thrilled to announce the release of Packing Support Pt 2: Load Up. This powerful feature is designed to help businesses streamline their packing and shipping operations by organizing sales order data based on shippers and routes. Whether you’re packing items, picking them from inventory, or loading them for shipping, Load Up ensures you can manage logistics with ease. Let’s take a closer look at how this feature can benefit your business.
We’re excited to announce the release of Packing Support Pt 1: Pack Out. This powerful new feature helps you take control of your packing process by using your sales order data to generate a streamlined packing list based on your specific needs. Whether you need to organize sales orders by items, departments, or shipping routes, Pack Out provides the flexibility to pack more efficiently. Let’s dive into how this feature can help transform your workflow.
We are excited to announce the release of iOS version 7.3, packed with new features designed to streamline your order management and enhance the connection between iOS and web-based sales orders. This update enables greater synchronization between your sales activities and logistics, offering more control and flexibility for your team.
We’re excited to announce a major update with the introduction of Sales Orders, available as of April 30, 2024. This new feature is designed to help businesses manage their sales and inventory processes more effectively, providing a clear view of customer orders, special pricing, and streamlined shipping logistics—all in one place. Let’s take a closer look at how these new tools can transform your business operations.
We’re excited to unveil version 7.2.0 of BlueTrace, which introduces powerful new tools to improve your seafood inventory management, traceability, and operational efficiency. This update addresses feedback from our pilot and includes features tailored for distributors who handle a variety of products. Let’s dive into the highlights of this release.
BlueTrace Grows to 430 clients, prints over 5 million tags, and expands product.
This is the first of three related articles exploring the issue of aquaculture in the US. This series was sparked by NOAA seeking comments on the US National Aquaculture Development Plan. The goal of the plan is to: strengthening U.S. commitment to food security, climate resilience, and the protection of threatened and endangered species.
The last plan was done 40 years ago!
We’re excited to announce the release of version 7.1.0 of BlueTrace. This update is packed with improvements designed to make inventory management even more seamless, based on the valuable feedback we received during our initial pilot phase. Here’s a look at what’s new, what’s been fixed, and how this update will make your seafood inventory workflow more efficient.
The article from the New Yorker is devastating: A huge Chinese fleet, manned with at least some slave labor destroying the global squid fisheries to put calamari on the plate of US consumers.
Our primary goal at BlueTrace is to streamline operations for our customers and save them valuable time. A significant aspect of achieving this goal is minimizing the time required to create tags and attach them to shellfish containers.
The journey of finding a reliable and durable paper product for our mobile printers has been an ongoing endeavor. However, the main challenge we encountered was the lengthy process of sourcing the perfect paper stock, obtaining samples, and conducting thorough testing.
But here's the exciting part: After collaborating with three vendors and meticulously testing five different paper stocks and perforation patterns, we have finally discovered a thicker paper stock that surpasses expectations in terms of durability and ruggedness for shellfish tags and labels. Now, let me delve into the process we underwent and the ultimate decisions we made...
We have seen a few tag materials that claim to be compostable and recyclable. If true, this would be a boon to the seafood industry and we would be first in line to embrace it. But the reality is the commercial applications don’t live up to the hype.
Recalls happen--fortunately not very frequently--but they are a fact of life in any food industry. Most recalls are precautionary. In other words, there are no
confirmed illnesses.
Below are the details of a recall published on August 11, 2023--for oyster harvested in June 2023!! I sure hope these are not still in circulation. We checked with our clients and they are all clear. Hopefully no one got sick, but it clearly cost the folks involved a ton of time and hurt their reputation.
The regulators are doing their job and making sure we all stay safe--and our industry stays healthy. Let's all help make their jobs easy.
The receiving dock at seafood companies can be chaos. 
We recently watched a harried guy with a clipboard direct six forklifts unloading 14 tractor trailers' worth of seafood one morning. Salmon from Norway, squid from California, tuna from Costa Rica, lobster from Maine, mussels from Canada, oysters from the Chesapeake. The list went on and on.
The FDA today announced the final rule for Food Traceability that was required by the Food Safety Modernization Act law. We will explore this is future blog posts, but let's start with the high level:
Many thanks to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute for putting together an amazing 4 minute video introducing BlueTrace. Enjoy.
Receiving docks are chaotic—and incredibly important. Receiving is a regulated "Critical Tracking Event" in which the buyer is supposed to transcribe the "Key Data Elements" and ensure that the product is what they ordered and that the cold chain has been maintained. Having observed many receiving docks, we understand that the time wasted, the errors introduced, and the money lost can be significant.
There are obvious ways to improve this process, some of which the best companies have implemented. In particular, they get information about a shipment before it arrives and have the product properly labeled with a link to the digital record so receiving involves only scanning—not trying to read someone's handwriting.
Historically, this sort of tool has been available only to the largest companies. But BlueTrace has developed a system accessible to the vast majority of the market.
In many shellfish-producing states, May 1 marks the beginning of Vibrio season. For those who don’t know, Vibrio is the most common food-borne illness caused by raw oyster (and other foods). The key management strategy: Keep it cold.
With the resumption of shellfish trade with the EU, the U.S. oyster industry is rightfully concerned about the introduction of OsHV-1 into our waters. Although this virus does not affect humans, it has been linked to mass oyster mortalities all across the world. Not every imported oyster is carrying the virus, but they all must be treated as such since we can’t know which ones are carriers, and the stakes are just too high.
Oysters are a safe food, and very few people get sick from eating them. When something bad does happen, though, news stories get out of control, and the whole industry is harmed. A recent oyster recall in British Columbia illustrates the challenges. Here is what we know so far (this is an ongoing story, so more details will likely emerge):
Below is a letter to the editor of Carteret County News-Times in North Carolina from Chris Matteo of Chadwick Creek Oysters. Chris is writing in response to a classic NIMBY article. A retired judge moved to town and wanted to "protect" his view by telling the locals what they could do. Chris' response is thoughtful and deserves a wide audience. Thank you Chris.
Comox, British Columbia. The British Columbia ShellfishGrowers Association has partnered with BlueTrace to bring industry-leading traceability technology to BC shellfish businesses.
Many of us might wonder whether the govt has gone overboard with funding, but if they are offering and you are eligible you should at least consider applying.
Shellfish tags are mandated by the FDA and are part of the model ordinance from the National Shellfish Sanitation Program. They play a very direct role in public health protection.
The Global Seafood Alliance (formerly the Global Aquaculture Alliance) publishes one of the best seafood podcasts. The team of Shaun O’Loughlin, Justin Grant, and Maddie Cassidy are awesome. We were lucky enough to be interviewed recently. Always fun to talk seafood and innovation with smart and knowledgeable folks. You can listen on your favorite podcast app or download from their website.
The New Era of Smarter Food Safety represents a new approach to food safety, leveraging technology and other tools to create a safer and more digital, traceable food system.
Save yourself from a frivolous lawsuit and include the Prop 65 language on your shellfish tags.
Thanks to all the folks at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) we are hiring more folks and scaling our solution. Stay tuned for more product update. 
Here is the official press release:
The success of our businesses rely on consumers staying healthy.
Although BlueTrace software is great, the key to success is having folks like Kam Kim of Newport News, VA on the team.
Brad Blymier started as a small pedestrian farmer on the eastern shore of Virginia over 12 years ago. Very quickly he realized his natural gift for connecting with chefs and farmers and started helping neighboring farms sell their product. Within a couple of years, he decided to focus solely on the distribution side of the business. Since then, War Shore has grown into one of the largest specialty shellfish distributors in the “DMV” (DC/MD/noVA). Today they deliver oysters, lobster meat, scallops, clams, mussels and other specialty creatures of the sea to a growing array of chefs and major supermarkets. With their new Maine buying station (Maine Oyster Initiative) they are one track to buy over 1.5 million Maine oysters this year which is about 15% of their overall oyster sales.
Below is a nice description of the new ELAP insurance program from the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association. Farmers will be wise to heed their advice and keep good records.
Four years ago, we had the idea of helping oyster farmers improve their operations. Today, we have over 120 clients in 12 states and 4 countries. We have employees, investors and even won a major grant from NOAA. All this would not be possible without the support of so many. Thank you!
Supply Chains are the lifeblood of our economy. From how a shellfish gets from the tideline to the table, to how a semi-conductor chip gets from a factory in Asia to a printer on a farm.
Forget Pre-Printed Tags: How Oyster Tracker Can Help Your Shellfish Farm Transition Into The 21st Century
One of the great joys of this job is visiting our clients. Last week I visited a bunch on Cape Cod and got a couple of fun videos.
We did a virtual tradeshow with the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association. Over 90 people showed up!!
The Aquaculture North America just published it's latest magazine, and our clients are in two separate articles:
Almost every farm starts out selling to local restaurants, but as they scale distributors (aka wholesalers) play an increasingly important role. You will make more money per shell at a restaurant, but there is a limit to how much restaurants can buy. If you are producing more than a few local restaurants and some consumers can absorb, you are probably going to need to work with distributors. We've been talking to a lot of distributors lately and here are some of the things farmers should know.
We started thinking about shellfish tagging about a year ago. We were watching
We won (a grant)! In a stroke of great luck and a testament to the awesome team at Oyster Tracker, we have been awarded a grant from National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
When you work with us, your data is your data and we don't share it with anyone. You can read our privacy policy and terms of service on the bottom of this website.
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Despite all the craziness, our team has been focused on what we can control: improving our Farm Management software.
We released our latest version last week. This release is all about helping folks navigate more easily through the farm. For example, we now include a global view of your farm with counts of all animals.
.png?width=2048&name=Image%20from%20iOS%20(25).png) You can also now filter your results to find just the size, year class, equipment, or virtually any other data point that you are looking for.
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After getting inquiries from over 30 people and interviewing 8 amazing folks, we hired our first sales leader--right as Covid shutdown the entire economy.
Wow it is a crazy time. I hope you and your families are well. That is most important.
The USDA just released a census of Aquaculture in the US. As far as I can see, the data has some serious limitations--and it is not the fault of the USDA. It was a voluntary survey and the results show that the majority of farms didn't return the surveys. Here are a couple of highlights:
In 17th century Holland Tulips were the first modern market panic. Overnight tulip values dropped to almost nothing and scores of people went bankrupt. The question I get regularly is: Are we in a oyster bubble? 
Our waterways are stressed by excess nutrients--especially nitrogen and phosphate. Nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer fueled the "green revolution" that saw grain harvest double within 20 years. This amazing revolution has fed millions and delivered beautiful green lawns to many.
Just spent a week out in Portland OR at the 73rd! Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association. Really interesting. Here are some of my takeaways.
Spent 4 days earlier this month visiting clients and prospects on Long Island. Clearly this is a region on the rise. The fresh water of the Atlantic flushes the Little and Great Peconic .jpg?width=300&name=IMG_2972%20(1).jpg)
Bays creating ideal growing conditions. The communities are largely supportive. The farms can sell to great restaurants on Long Island or within a few hours they can have their product in NYC. No wonder the number of farmers and the size of the farms is growing.
Oyster Tracker recently hit two big milestones--we raised money and hired our first Chief Technical Officer full time. Having clients in 10 different states and 3 countries has taught us a lot. We now know a lot more about what the industry needs, what we should build and how we should support you. With talent and money, we can bring our solution to the next level.
Excuse the brag, but every once is a while we like to take note of what we have accomplished. Here is our latest press release.
This is the most boring post ever, but potentially the most important. Imagine this scenario:
OK. So I published fake news. In our last newsletter, I used a reddit post:
