April 28, 2014 — Let the conscientious seafood buyer beware. First came news, via a 2011 Globe investigation, that restaurants and markets were frequently misrepresenting the fish they sold to consumers.
Now comes word that, even when labeled properly, imported seafood may not have been caught legally. A new study in the journal Marine Policy found that between 20 percent and 32 percent of wild-caught seafood imported to the United States came from illegal and unreported catches — violations of international rules meant to preserve the viability of endangered fisheries.