Seafood fraud and mislabelling is a widespread problem around the world. It affects the environment, the economy, and our health. According to OceanaCanada, seafood fraud is "any activity that misrepresents the seafood products being purchased". Across Canada, approximately 44% of seafood from restaurants and retailers are mislabelled. The issue is more dramatically seen in restaurants alone, with an astonishing rate of 53% of seafood being mislabelled. The image below shows the mislabelling rates by type of business according to a 2018 study by Oceana Canada.
Because of mislabelling, consumers are not purchasing what they think they are. Instead, they are purchasing fish with high price mark-ups. Common and cheap species of fish are mislabelled so that they can be sold as desirable and expensive species instead. In 74% of mislabelling cases in Canada, the seafood listed on labels or menus were a more expensive variety of the fish being sold.
The fish actually being purchased pose threats to the consumers health. Seafood fraud is therefore a health safety issue. Almost 60% of mislabelled fish have potential health consequences for the consumer.
Mislabelling also threatens the environment, as many of the mislabelled fish are actually vulnerable or endangered. Through seafood fraud, species that otherwise illegal to fish due to conservation issues can be caught and can enter the market with a new “legal identity”.
HOW DOES SEAFOOD FRAUD AND MISLABELLING HAPPEN?
For many years, Seafood fraud and mislabelling has been a part of the fisheries industry. It allows the industry to make extra money and get around legalities regarding conservation, location, and fishing gear.
Large scale mislabelling is made possible by the long and complicated process it takes for a fish to arrive in a supermarket and on one’s plate. This is called the supply chain. The fish has to be caught, then sent for processing, which can mean travelling around the world, and then to the supermarket or restaurant. Mislabelling can happen on the boat, during processing, at the retail level, by the restaurant, or elsewhere. When the supply chain is longer, the risk of mislabelling is higher. According to Organic Ocean Seafood Canada, most of the mislabelling is most prevalent in the processing stage of globally imported products.
As the human population increases, the levels of global fishing are rising significantly. More and more fish pass through this supply chain and therefore more and more fish are being mislabelled. Meanwhile, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is doing little to regulate what ends up on consumer’s plates.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF SEAFOOD FRAUD AND MISLABELLING
Through seafood fraud, species of fish who are endangered, threatened, or vulnerable can be disguised. Even an environmentally conscious consumer may think they are buying a fish that has a stable population and does not pose any threats to conservation when they are actually supporting a market that is catching and selling endangered fish. 30% of mislabelled samples taken from restaurants and retailers were endangered or vulnerable species. The image to the left from the OceanaCanada 2018 Seafood Fraud study depicts the conservation status of mislabelled fish samples.
Mislabelling fish also allows fishers to cover up illegal fishing. Depending on the regulations in the specific area, it may be illegal to fish at certain times, using certain gear, fishing in closed areas, or catching specific species (usually implemented due to low population levels or conservation concerns). When these laws are violated, seafood fraud will allow the fish to enter the market with a new “legal identity”. The people who violated these laws will not be caught without the CFIA implementing new regulations. At risk species could become extinct, overfishing rates will continue to increase, and destructive fishing practices will continue without being regulated.
When one fishery uses illegal fishing practices and seafood gets mislabelled, the illegal practice is made profitable. Therefore, a fishery trying to use sustainable practices is put at a severe disadvantage. The money that the unsustainable fishery is gaining is at the expense of the sustainable fishery.
That is the trick of this market. Consumers are deceived to think that they are buying environmentally friendly fish, when really they are purchasing a species that is at risk and they are supporting a fishery/industry that in addition to catching illegal species could be using illegal gear in illegal areas which is further damaging the ecosystem.
HUMAN HEALTH IMPACTS OF SEAFOOD FRAUD AND MISLABELLING
Seafood fraud is a food safety issue. As much as 60% of mislabelled fish pose potential health risks to consumers. There are three common mislabelling health issues in Canada.
Escolar is commonly labelled as Butterfish. In fact, the 2018 OceanaCanada study showed that 100% of butterfish samples taken were mislabelled (see the image above for other common substitutions. Those with yellow symbols next to the name post health risks). While butterfish is perfectly safe to eat, escolar is known as the “laxative of the sea”. Escolar can cause acute gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea. Some countries have even banned this fish (Japan, South Korea, Italy).
The second common mislabelling health issue is farmed fish being sold as wild fish. For example, farmed Atlantic salmon being sold as wild Atlantic salmon, farmed tilapia sold as wild snapper, or farmed Asian catfish sold as wild sole. The CFIA says that farmed salmon, tilapia, and Asian catfish can contain drug residue, antibiotics, and contaminants. These substances are hazardous. However, even with this information, the CFIA does not require seafood labels to state whether a fish is wild or farmed, and therefore the mislabelling of wild versus farmed fish is not regulated.
The third common mislabelling issue and perhaps the most threatening, is the mislabelling of reef fish such as amberjack, which is often sold as yellowtail. This fish contains a natural toxin called ciguatera, which unless the individual consuming the fish is treated soon after consumption, can cause long term, debilitating, neurological symptoms. The OceanaCanada 2018 study found that 100% of yellowtail samples were actually amberjack.
The image below from OceanaCanada shows more of the common substitutes.
ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF SEAFOOD FRAUD AND MISLABELLING
The main motivation to commit seafood fraud is money. Through mislabelling, fish can be sold at rates as much as two to ten times more expensive than their actual value. According to the OceanaCanada 2018 study, 74% of mislabelled fish where sold as more expensive than their original value. The image to the left depicts some of the common cases where the price of fish was driven up by mislabelling.
A common and drastic example of seafood fraud with economic impacts is the sale of sea bass. Asian catfish is often marketed as sea bass (which was found to be mislabelled 50% of the time) because it has one of the highest mark-up values. Asian catfish, worth $11/KG is sold for $113/KG sea bass.
MISLABELLING IN OTTAWA
The OceanaCanada study published statistics by the city. The image below shows how many fish samples were mislabelled in Ottawa and how many by either retailers and restaurants. When comparing Ottawa’s mislabelling rates to that of other big cities (Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver, and Victoria), Ottawa had fairly high mislabelling rates, though Toronto was sitting at almost 60% overall.
As mentioned before, the longer the supply chain, the higher the likeliness of mislabelling. As Ottawa and Toronto are not coastal cities, the supply chain is lengthened, which is probably part of the reason why these two cities have such high numbers.
SOLUTIONS: BOAT TO PLATE TRACEABILITY
As mentioned earlier, seafood fraud, substitutions, and mislabelling can occur at any point in the supply chain. Therefore a potential solution to seafood fraud is implementing a full traceability program through the CFIA. This means making it mandatory to provide the who, what, when, where, and how a fish was caught, processed, and distributed. These regulations need to be put in place on a national level.
SOLUTIONS: CATCH DOCUMENTATION
Through the CFIA and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), catch documentation must be a nationwide required for all domestic and imported seafood. This would demonstrate the the fish was acquired legally, which means that legal practices and gear were used and the harvesting, processing, and distribution of the fish were not in violation with any conservation laws. Documentation would provide information on catch, landings, shipments, processing, distribution, imports, exports, and re-imports. It would be mandatory that this somehow (potentially electronically) accompany the seafood product. This method of regulating seafood fraud has been proven to be highly effective. It was implemented by the European Union (EU) in 2010.
The main benefit of this method is that it prevents Illegal Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and fisheries. As mentioned earlier, IUU cheats many consumers of their money. It has been estimated that the global impact of IUU costs over 30 billion Canadiand dollars.
SOLUTIONS: TRACEABILITY VERIFICATION
For traceability to be effective, verification is required to deter fraud. This means that there must be inspections, auditing of documentation by a third party, and penalties or sanctions when fraud is detected. The CFIA needs to add a genetic test to their seafood inspection process (or a different, equivalent identification method) to verify the identity of the seafood and validate traceability.
SOLUTIONS: REDUCING THE FISH LIST
Currently, on a Canadian seafood label the only information required is the location where the fish was last processed and a marketplace name of the fish.
The names of the fish on a seafood label are based on the CFIA’s Fish List. TheFish List allows one species of fish to have several acceptable marketplace names. For example, more than 100 different names can be listed for rockfish, but only one is specific and unique to the actual species that was purchased. That name is the latin scientific name. The benefit to using latin names is that they are used universally and no matter what country the fish is coming from and/or going to, it does not change. Currently, the EU requires that all seafood be labelled with the scientific name, however Canada (and the United States) still uses TheFish List. Using concise names (along with catch information such as catch method and traceability) on seafood labels will allow consumers to make informed choices.
WHAT THE CFIA IS DOING TO PROTECT CONSUMERS
Unfortunately, the CFIA has failed to address seafood fraud despite the food safety concerns in their most recent set of regulations that came into effect 2019: The Safe Food for Canadians Regulations. They had the opportunity to include traceability in set of regulations, but chose not to even though CFIA’s own studies showed that 15% of seafood is mislabelled before processing (this number does not look at the full supply chain like Oceana’s study). All of the solutions discussed above require the CFIA to implement and uphold them. They must do more to protect consumers.
WHAT CONSUMERS CAN DO TO PROTECT THEMSELVES
There are a couple different things consumers can do when purchasing fish to avoid fraud.
First, when purchasing seafood, buy the whole fish. It is much harder to label a fish as a different species if the whole body is intact rather than if it was a fillet or steak.
Second, be careful about where the fish is purchased. Look for fish with a traceability logo on the package such as a Marine Stewardship Council logo (see image on the left from https://www.msc.org/home). The Marine Stewardship Council is a voluntary traceability system.
Mislabelling is also less likely if the seafood is purchased from a local fishmonger because the supply chain is shorter.
The third thing consumers can do is find out when the seafood being purchased is in season. If purchasing seafood that is not usually in season, it was likely fraud.
Fourth, check the price of the fish. Often times when the price looks really good and is fairly inexpensive, it was substituted.
Finally, send a message to the DFO or CFIA about why increased regulations in regards to seafood fraud and mislabelling is important. Public support is required to put pressure on the government.
SEAFOOD FRAUD NEEDS TO STOP
Sustainable fisheries, consumer’s health, the environment, and the economy are at risk because of seafood fraud. As the human population grows and the supply chain gets bigger and longer, fraud rates are only increasing. Decreasing these rates depends on public support and the CFIA and DFO doing more to protect consumers.
Seafood labels must contain more information on harvest, catch and catch methods, processing, transport, and the Latin scientific species name so that consumers can make educated choices and so that it is harder for seafood to be mislabelled throughout the supply chain. This kind of documentation and boat-to-plate traceability are the most effective way to tackle seafood fraud.
Other countries are ahead of the game. Specifically the countries of the EU, which already has highly effective traceability programs in place to prevent seafood fraud. Canada is falling behind.
If seafood fraud is not addressed soon, the problem will continue to grow and more and more consumers, marine life, and responsible seafood vendors will be the ones losing out.
SOURCES
Hein, T. (2019) Tackling Seafood Fraud. Retrieved Jan 9. 2020 from:
Hoemeke, C. (2017) How to Protect Yourself Against Seafood Fraud. Retrieved Jan. 9, 2020 from:
Levin, J. (2017) Mystery Fish: Seafood Fraud in Canada and How to Stop it. Retrieved Jan. 7, 2020 from:
Levin, J. (2018) Seafood Fraud and Mislabelling Across Canada. Retrieved Jan. 7, 2020 from:
Ruryk, J. Chung, E. (2018) Widespread Mislabelling of Seafood Reported in Cities Across Canada. Retrieved Jan. 6, 2020 from: https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/seafood-mislabelling-fraud-1.4796762
Sagan, A. (2018) Nearly Half of Canadian Seafood Improperly Labelled: Study. Retrieved Jan. 9, 2020 from: