Internship assignment: development of demand-driven fish chain for the TX1
The Texel fishing boat TX1 ‘Klasina-J’ was built in 1997. This ship belongs to C. Vonk & zn bv and is a real family business. Adrie Vonk runs this company with his sons Cor and Thijs who are the 4th generation. The ambition of these fishermen of the TX1 is to produce and sell as much fish as possible locally. Through sustainability, they ensure the right of existence of the fish chain in the future, fishing with care for nature.
The aim of the fishermen of the TX1 is to arrange sales and logistics directly from the boat and, through transparency and demand management, to continue fishing responsibly in the future.
Demand-driven production and sales is one of the tools used to make the production of our food more sustainable and to give producers prospects for the future. Demand-driven sales are based on pre-sales, so producers know where they stand. Demand-driven chains allow consumers to indicate what they value and, by buying delicious products, invest in the producer to make products that contribute to these values. An example of a demand-driven chain is the Utregs Supersap, facilitated by Local2Local.
During this internship, you will conduct initial exploration from desk research to set up a demand-driven chain for TX1, through the following research questions:
1) Which previous projects have been done that focused on sustainable fishing and transparency in the chain (e.g. fish tails, wild catch)? And how can these inspire the TX1?
2) What are the legal obstacles to a more transparent chain and what is already known about them? How can these obstacles be overcome and/or turned into opportunities?
3) How to set up a demand-driven route, how to offer this to tourists and maintain transparency?
Are you:
– A college/university student interested in the food chain, logistics flows and/or sustainable fisheries?
– Would you like to contribute to a transparent fish chain for the TX1?
– Would you like to work on an interesting research project for a few months part-time or a few weeks full-time?
What we offer:
– Practical opportunity to make the fish chain on Texel more sustainable
– A place to sleep on Texel to visit the island
– A close collaboration with the TX1
– Access to a broad network of food improvers and possible advancement opportunities within the transition of the food system
– A flexible starting time