Oceana, a nonprofit that focuses on protecting oceans, announced last Wednesday that its scientists found commercial seafood is often mislabeled to sell cheap fillets at the cost of expensive ones and also to pass off overfished species for abundantly available ones.
In "Bait and Switch," Oceana reports that $10 billion to $23.5 billion is lost annually on illegal fishing.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium in California publishes "Seafood Watch" lists for U.S. regions. According to its 2011 guide, wild Alaskan salmon and scallops farmed off the ocean floor rank among the most sustainable species. Atlantic cod, imported shrimp and monkfish made the least sustainable list.
Although reports of mislabeled fish aren’t new, the technique used by the organization’s scientists is.
Using gene sequencers to scan the DNA "bar code" of commercial seafood from supermarkets, Oceana’s researchers found that some species were mislabeled 70 percent of the time.
One page of the report uses side-by-side comparisons to show how the species of a fish becomes hard to determine when the skin, head and tail have been removed.
Mako shark fillets impersonate swordfish, rockfish looks identical to red snapper and farmed Atlantic salmon seems to be just like the wild salmon next to it.
Reggie Delphin, owner of Freeman’s Fish Market in Maplewood, said mislabeling has been on his radar for some time. But the market, he said, has a foolproof way of making sure their customers get the right fillets.
"Ninety percent of what we sell in the store comes in whole," he said. "And we have experienced people here who fillet it. So it’s not like we’re buying fillets without any skin on them.
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