Nutrition

November 16, 2011 – Gib Brogan of Oceana, and Mike Fernandes of Northern Wind discuss the issue of mislabeling seafood, and describe how bad it is for industry, the environment and consumers.

In a recent issue of Audubon, journalist Dan Oko wrote about “trash fish” coming to the table:

In a Houston industrial park about 50 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, fishmonger P.J. Stoops sells an array of unusual species. Instead of such popular seafood as shrimp and red snapper, the shop, Total Catch Market, specializes in the “trash fish” Gulf Coast commercial fishermen catch inadvertently. The offerings have inspired Houston chefs and at-home cooks to experiment with lesser-known species, from the tunalike Almaco jack to the Pixar-worthy bigeye. On a typical Saturday, Stoops sells out of up to 300 pounds of fish by 10:30 a.m.
 
Although bycatch remains a dirty word for many conservationists, reflecting waste in the industry, Stoops is part of a national movement looking to shift American attitudes about seafood. Expanding people’s palates to include sometimes strange-looking fish caught in local waters promotes more sustainable fisheries. Without Total Catch Market, dozens of captains would instead dump the bycatch overboard. “We have the second most productive fishery on the planet,” Stoops says of the Gulf. “The point is to approach it rationally.”
 
Beth Lowell, campaign director for environmental group Oceana, doesn’t object in principle to selling these fish. “For the most part,” she says, “the fish are already dead. So it doesn’t make sense to dump them overboard.” Enormous trawl nets can unintentionally scoop up nontarget fish, birds, and other sea life; Oceana and other groups advocate counting each animal caught, and setting catch caps for each of those species.

Read the complete story from Audubon Magazine

 

 

 

 

 

According to the latest research, eating fish can help protect your heart and lower your blood pressure and risk of stroke. But Consumer Reports' just-released investigation shows people aren’t always getting the fish they're paying for.

Consumer Reports investigated to find out if the fish you're buying is what it claims to be or some sort of mystery fish.

"Our secret shoppers bought 190 samples of 14 different kinds of fish – red snapper, salmon, sole, and others. They went to more than 50 retail stores and restaurants in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut,” says Kim Kleman with Consumer Reports.

Consumer Reports testers packed pieces from each sample and sent them off to an outside lab.

Technicians extracted DNA from each sample to determine what kind of fish it was. 

The results? Only four of the 14 types of fish bought were always identified correctly.  The biggest discrepancy? Lemon sole. Of the 10 samples, not one turned out to be lemon sole.

Read the complete story from WRBL

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the first piece in a new TalkingFish.org feature that will interview New England’s fishermen, chefs, retailers, policymakers and others about their perspectives on sustainable seafood.

Today’s interview: Alex Hay, chief operating officer and co-owner, Mac’s Seafood, Wellfleet, Mass.

TalkingFish.org: You are known for your commitment to local and sustainable food. Tell us about your philosophy.

Alex Hay: Part of what drives us is personal: We got into this business because of our love of fish and of this place (Cape Cod). We grew up spending summers fishing with our grandfather. He wasn’t a commercial fisherman, but he took us out from Ryder Beach in Truro, and we sportfished for anything we could find. The time we spent out on the water, and also exploring the tidal sand flats, taught us a lot about our interdependence in a unique ecosystem here. Learning to fish gave us a sense of responsibility: This is something to take care of for future generations.

Of course, we’re extremely fortunate now to be buying and selling fish in a place where there is so much tradition and knowledge, and so much abundance. That makes it easy to focus on what’s local. When we got started, we weren’t trying to make a big statement about that. We simply didn’t know any other way. Our idea was, “We know how to catch fish and how to handle it, fillet it and cook it, so let’s do that.”

Now we think it’s important to help our customers get to know a wider range of the local catch. That’s part of learning to roll with the seasons and quotas and support sustainability. We’re still learning, and we know we need to do some teaching, too: Yes, the cod out here is fantastic, but so is the pollock, the hake, the mackerel and the squid.

Read the complete interview from TalkingFish.org

 

 

 

 

 

Massachusetts Congressmen Ed Markey and Barney Frank have directed questions to the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission Chairman in the wake of a recent Boston Globe multi-part investigation into the mislabeling of seafood, primarily imports, which hurts the domestic seafood industry and deceives consumers.

According to the Congressmen, "Mislabeling … results in consumers' unknowingly eating imported species offish, which directly undermines our local fishermenwho provide fresh, safe, and sustainable seafood. Americans enjoy eating domestic seafood because they can have great confidence in its quality and sustainable catch practices. The practice of deceptive mislabeling is not only attack on consumers, but also the American seafood industry that employs hundreds of thousands of Americans. While there are multiple U.S. laws that aim to ensure that seafood is caught in a sustainable and responsible manner, many market-driven conservation efforts depend on consumers' ability to make informed choices to buy particular species or fish harvested using sustainable fishing practices. This effort becomes nearly impossible when fish are mislabeled and undermines the work and incomes of law-abiding fishermen.Advertising and selling seafood that is mislabeled is not only dishonest, and potentially dangerous, but also would likely be deemed as "unfair and deceptive acts or practices" under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA)"

Read the letter from Congressmen Ed Markey and Barney Frank

 

 

 

 

 

US Representative Edward Markey opened a congressional investigation yesterday into fish labeling following the results of a Globe report published this week that uncovered extensive seafood misrepresentation at area restaurants and scant government oversight.

Markey, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over fishing and ocean issues, is also considering legislation to combat consumer fraud and ensure better inspection and labeling of fish products.

“It’s hard not to conclude that something fishy has been going on when it comes to fish labeling,’’ Markey said. “This kind of fish fraud isn’t just an affront to consumers’ wallets, it also could be a danger to the health of our people and the health of New England’s seafood economy. We cannot allow shady practices by middlemen or restaurants to taint the excellent reputation of the New England fishing industry.’’

The five-month Globe investigation found that Massachusetts consumers regularly and unwittingly overpay for less valued fish or buy seafood that is not what it is advertised to be. The newspaper hired a lab in Canada to conduct DNA tests on fish that reporters purchased across the region. The results showed that 48 percent, or 87 of the 183 seafood samples, were sold with the wrong species name. Such misnaming can put consumers at risk of suffering allergic reactions, violating dietary restrictions, or ingesting chemicals banned in the United States.

Markey yesterday sent letters to top officials at the US Food and Drug Administration, which is charged with overseeing labeling, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which monitors fisheries. He requested information from both agencies, including the percentage of domestic and imported fish that are inspected, the level of coordination between federal agencies to detect mislabeling, and what additional resources are needed to increase seafood inspections for species substitution.

Read the complete article from The Boston Globe

 

 

 

 

 

The fish you order in many restaurants and supermarkets may not be the fish you get.

A new report by Consumer Reports says they may be cheating you when you buy seafood, substituting cheaper fish for what you ordered.

 The results, Consumer Reports Editor-in-Chief Kim Kleman said, stunned her, and there's no way to know for sure whether profit it at the heart of the problem.

"The problem," she said, "is you can't really tell what the motivation is. There are so many hands that touch fish from the time it's caught to the time it shows up on your plate in a restaurant or in the supermarket where you buy it, that you can't really tell what the problem is. But I think the answer is more testing. People can't do their own DNA tests, so we think the federal government needs to be a lot more involved in catching this."

What's more, she says – this is a health issue as well as an economic one. For instance, there are several types of fish pregnant women aren't supposed to eat, and they may be consuming such fish without even knowing it if that's what they get when they order something else.

Read the complete story from CBS News

 

 

 

 

 

State officials say they will improve oversight of seafood sales in Massachusetts after the results of a Globe investigation published this week revealed widespread mislabeling at area restaurants, and few controls to protect diners from potential health risks and overpaying for fish.

The Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure is expected to schedule an oversight hearing on seafood substitution in the coming weeks. The Patrick administration and members of the state’s congressional delegation – including both senators – also are reviewing the matter. And a prominent local restaurateur said he will change his menu in response to the Globe’s findings.

“Fish mislabeling has become an accepted practice,’’ said state Representative Ted Speliotis, the Danvers Democrat and cochairman of the joint committee. “There appears to be overlapping responsibility but no one is taking action. This needs to change.’’

Read the complete story from The Boston Globe.

 

 

 

 

 

A new Consumer Reports story on “mystery fish” reaches similar conclusions to a five-month long investigation by The Boston Globe that found that Massachusetts consumers regularly and unwittingly overpay for less valued fish or buy seafood that is not what it is advertised to be.

For a series published earlier this week, The Globe hired a lab in Canada to conduct DNA tests on fish that reporters purchased across the region. The results showed that 48 percent, or 87 of the 183 seafood samples, were sold with the wrong species name.

In its mystery fish story, Consumer Reports said that even though Americans spent $80.2 billion on seafood last year, they aren’t always buying what they think they are.

Read the complete story from The Boston Globe.

 

 

 

 

 

State officials say they will improve oversight of seafood sales in Massachusetts after the results of a Globe investigation published this week revealed widespread mislabeling at area restaurants, and few controls to protect diners from potential health risks and overpaying for fish.

The Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure is expected to schedule an oversight hearing on seafood substitution in the coming weeks. The Patrick administration and members of the state’s congressional delegation – including both senators – also are reviewing the matter. And a prominent local restaurateur said he will change his menu in response to the Globe’s findings.

“Fish mislabeling has become an accepted practice,’’ said state Representative Ted Speliotis, the Danvers Democrat and cochairman of the joint committee. “There appears to be overlapping responsibility but no one is taking action. This needs to change.’’

Read the complete story from The Boston Globe.