Seafood is a iconic staple of our summer diet, but the shrimp on your Poboy cannot be done that seems so.
Despite the promise of “Fresh Gulf Seafood” on the menu across the country, there are many dinners Unknowingly served products imported Falsely labeled as local catch.
Evidence of this came last year when a prestigious Mississippi restaurant blamed the guilty and shook the Gulf Coast. Selling more than 29 tons of misguided seafoodBecause of which A Fine more than $ 1 million And one PRison punishment for manager Seafood distributor of restaurant. The restaurant said fresh gulf seafood like red snapper and gropper, when it was really selling cheaper foreign imports to cheap foreign imports.
It was not a separate event, but a sign of a warning.
Of this kind Seafood fraud Consumers cheat, hide health risks and damage honest fishermen and seafood businesses. This can be anywhere in the complex seafood supply chain, especially with intervals in traceability requirements for seafood we import. Without strong traceability systems and consumers, without labeling, dishonest actor can swap species, hide the original, and lie about the ways of catch with little fear of being caught.
This is more important for the government to protect consumers and domestic fishermen than ever. Due to shortcomings with current seafood traceability programs in the United States, seafood lovers, businesses and domestic fishermen have not been widely preserved by fraud.
State affairs are taking matters in their hands, and this is especially true on the Gulf coast. The case in Mississippi led the Magnolia state Adopt a law It came into force in July that every restaurant, grocery store, market and all seafood sold in the food trucks were labeled as either “imported” or “domestic”. Violers are fined up to $ 10,000 or up to six months.
Louisiana And Alabama Recently adopted similar laws, and is following the suit with Texas New shrimp-labeing law Ready to be implemented in September. Now, when you sit in a restaurant at one of these places, you will be close to knowing what is really on your plate.
A southern shrimp alliance Seafood fraud analysis There is a different difference between the states that have implemented seafood labeling laws and which are not. In those states that lack a restaurant labeling laws, a jaw 75 percent restaurant Where seafood was tested, when they were selling imported, farm-up products, we appeared to offer wild-catching shrimp. He The number was 34 percent In states where seafood labeling laws are applicable.
Although this regional effort in Solutions Matter, we know that seafood fraud is an interstate and international problem. State-level reforms are important, but patchwork policies cannot put up with a product that crosses the oceans and boundaries. The only real solution is strong, nationwide traceability. This includes a catch documentation with important information about the origin of our seafood that is tracked from farm or net to the end point of sale – making it difficult for customers to wrong or cheat.
Luckily, we already have a device: Seafood import monitoring programThis requires documentation and traceability for illegal, unpounted and irregular fishing as well as some risky species of seafood fraud. But this program Currently all imported seafood includes less than half of the imported seafoodThis is an interval hole in our food security and enforcement system. Expanding all seafood imports to expand itAnd apply it Strong oversiteSeafood will help reduce fraud and keep illegal fishing products from our supply chain.
It is not just about consumer protection; It is about economic fairness and national food security. US seafood industry supports 1.6 million jobs And contributes billions For our economy. Our fishermen do dangerous, important work to feed the nation, and their livelihood is threatened with seafood with a fake backstory and a false label.
We should ensure that all the seafood in our country are safe, legally caught, stitched and honestly labeled. This requires end-to-end traceability-until the end point of the catch-the-consumer to the last point of the sales to guarantee with labeling laws that consumers, regulators and businesses equally have access to significant data about their seafood.
This is the only way we can really know what is on our plate and how it got it.
Max Valentine, PhD, is the director and senior scientist for Ocean’s illegal fishing and transparency campaign in the United States.
