Eating fresh fish is a rite of summer, especially for those of us who want lean, nutritious protein. But fish-lovers beware: What you find at stores and restaurants isn’t always what the label says.
When the environmental group Oceana conducted a large study of the issue three years ago, the results were shocking. Scientists performed DNA tests on more than 1,200 samples from nearly 700 different stores and restaurants in 21 states. One out of three fish were mislabeled, in violation of Food and Drug Administration regulations, and the numbers were even worse in big cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Boston.
The poster child for the problem is red snapper, which many experts cite as the most faked species. “When you buy [red snapper], you almost never get it,” said Mark Stoeckle, a researcher at the Rockefeller University, where he works on a database attempting to map the DNA of practically every living thing, including fish.
Seafood uniquely lends itself to fraud. The supply chain for it is opaque and convoluted, and most white-fleshed fish—which is to say, most fin fish—looks similar when filleted. For unethical suppliers, it is easy to substitute a lower-cost fish for a pricier one. “Quite frankly, I could take three different fish, cut them into eight-inch square pieces and lay them next to each other, and very few people in the world could tell them apart,” said Joseph Lasprogata of Samuels and Sons Seafood Co., a respected, family-owned seafood distributor in Philadelphia.
“Red snapper has very high value, and once it is filleted, you can’t tell it from many other fish like farmed tilapia. It’s the same for grouper, another high-fraud fish—these are among the priciest seafood. Follow the money,” said Michael Dimin, co-founder of Sea to Table, a New York wholesale distributor that specializes in wild-caught, domestically sourced seafood.
Part of the problem is that seafood comes in thousands of varieties, including radically different species, of which hundreds are widely available for sale. Realistically, consumers can’t be well-informed about all of these different sorts of fish.
The difficulty is compounded by the fact that more than 90% of our seafood, according to the FDA, comes from outside the U.S. “Not only do we have lots of illegally caught fish,” said Eric Schwaab of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, “but they make their way into our food supply with little traceability in terms of country of origin or even species.”
For consumers and the industry itself, the big questions are: how extensive is the problem, who’s to blame and how to fix it.
Federal regulators have made a start in addressing these issues, with an FDA program called SCALE (for Seafood Compliance and Labeling Enforcement), which builds on the work of scientists like Dr. Stoeckle by using a genetic database to test imported fillets, shrimp, lobsters and crab. The groundwork for the project was completed in 2014, including a new lab and database, but its wider rollout to field agencies has been officially “on hold” since then.
Still, the first tests using the SCALE program were encouraging. They found violations among at least a dozen producers or importers, and the FDA imposed temporary bans. It has also generated valuable data. One FDA study showed that 85% of inspected seafood was correctly labeled at the last point of wholesale distribution.
That figure is important to Gavin Gibbons of the National Fisheries Institute, the largest domestic seafood trade organization. “If you know that 85% at wholesale is correctly labeled, you don’t have to test every fish,” he said. As he sees it, the study shows that the problem isn’t primarily with the people who catch or wholesale the fish; it’s with the stores and restaurants that deal directly with consumers.
In 2007, the National Fisheries Institute launched a Better Seafood Board, or BSB, to combat fraud. Members pledge, among other things, not to sell any seafood that is labeled with the wrong species or place of origin. The board provides a mechanism for the industry’s partners in the supply chain—restaurants, retailers, food manufacturers—to report suppliers who are committing fraud.
Other initiatives hold out the promise of making the supply chain more transparent. Global Fishing Watch—a soon-to-be-launched collaboration between Google and the environmental groups Oceana and SkyTruth—will use the transponders on fishing boats, satellite imaging and predictive algorithms to monitor illegal fishing.
New regulation and monitoring can help, but ultimately, consumers also have to take a bigger role in protecting themselves. One easy way to avoid fraud is to look for trustworthy third-party certifications when buying fish at a store or restaurant. The two most respected seals of approval come from the Marine Stewardship Council (for wild caught fish) and the Global Aquaculture Alliance (for farmed).
Another easy tip: Buy American when possible. The U.S. is far and away the world leader in fishery management, safety and sustainability, and fish caught in the U.S., from Alaska to Cape Cod, are better regulated for purity and more likely to be labeled accurately.
The quality and volume of aquaculture, or fish farming, is also expanding in the U.S., which means less reliance on questionable imports. Earlier this year, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, whose Seafood Watch list serves as a guide for many consumers, approved its first domestic salmon farm, True North in Maine, as a “good alternative.” Chef Rick Moonen of RM Seafood in Las Vegas said, “Ten years ago, there was no way…I would serve farmed Atlantic salmon.” Now he sings the praises of freshwater-farmed arctic char, branzino and trout, along with oysters and mussels.
There are also better and worse places to buy fish for cooking at home. Whole Foods is a good bet. The chain has excellent disclosure, labeling and information practices, and though its seafood is pricey, you get more reliable fish for the money. Big-box stores like Wal-Mart,Costco and BJ’s often provide third-party certification for fish, and with their enormous market leverage, they can force producers and suppliers to adhere to higher standards.
Finally, when eating out—70% of the seafood consumed in the U.S. is eaten in restaurants—order whole fish when you can and avoid the most commonly substituted fish: red snapper and grouper. The more processed a fish dish is, like seafood stew or chopped spicy tuna in sushi rolls, the easier it is to switch ingredients.
Most of all, go in with your eyes open and ask questions about the fish you eat. If you don’t get informed answers about what it is and where it’s from, it might be smart to order the chicken instead.
—Mr. Olmsted writes the “Great American Bites” column for USAToday.com. His new book is “Real Food, Fake Food: Why You Don’t Know What You’re Eating & What You Can Do About It,” published by Algonquin Books.