Seafood products sold in the U.S. are identified fraudulently as much as 25 to 70 percent of the time, with cheaper and more readily available fish often substituted for more desirable species and overfished species identified as species of greater abundance,
according to a new report by the nonprofit group Oceana. The report, “Bait and Switch: How Seafood Fraud Hurts Our Oceans, Our Wallets and Our Health,” says that despite increasing concerns about the origins of fish products, consumers are typically given little information on where the fish they buy is from. And even when fish products are labeled, the report notes, the information is often misleading or fraudulent. Other recent studies using DNA tracing technologies in North America and Europe have consistently found that 20 to 25 percent of seafood products are wrongly identified. Oceana says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other agencies should use the latest forensic technologies to more strictly enforce labeling requirements. “Customers buying fish have a right to know what the heck it is and where it’s from,” said Michael Hirshfield, chief scientist for Oceana, “but agencies like the FDA are not taking this as seriously as they should.”
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