Mislabeled Seafood May Be More Sustainable, New Study Finds




Why mislabeling happens is a little squishier. Fraud, human error or marketing ploys -- combined with an often multicountry traverse from boat to restaurant -- make it possible you are eating a different fish than what's on the menu.


"One of the motivations and hopes for this study is that we can help inform people who are trying to exert their consumer power to shift seafood markets toward carrying more sustainable options," said co-author Christine Stawitz, a UW doctoral student in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and the Quantitative Ecology and Resource Management program.



"We found a lot of diversity in conservation status across taxa," said co-author Margaret Siple. "Depending on what you order or purchase, you can get a fish that is more endangered than what you ordered, or something that is actually of better conservation status. What we want to emphasize is how diverse these differences are."



The new study also summarizes which fish are most likely to be mislabeled and of those which varied the most in conservation status between true fish and mislabeled fish. For example, snapper is one of the most frequently mislabeled fish. Its conservation status is vulnerable to endangered -- meaning its population isn't doing well -- but the fishes most often substituted for snapper are considered critically endangered.

Results from this study could be useful in helping consumers make sustainable purchasing decisions by avoiding fish that are most likely to be mislabeled. That list is led by croakers, shark catfish (or "basa"), sturgeon and perch. Consumers can also look out for fish commonly replaced with species that are not from sustainable stocks. Examples include eel, hake and snapper.

These results could also help seafood certification efforts such as the Marine Stewardship Council and the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch focus efforts on fisheries that are most likely to be mislabeled, the researchers say. The Marine Stewardship Council certifies fisheries for sustainable fishing practices and follows seafood from the port to markets. This study offers information about where mislabeling might happen when products aren't tracked through the whole chain of custody. A fish often travels from the port to processors and several distributors before reaching the end market, and this change of hands is likely where mislabeling happens, the new study found.

"We hope this study can help regulators understand where in the chain of custody they should be putting their efforts," Siple said.

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