Seafood Mislabeled: New Report from Oceana Show Nearly One-Third of Seafood Mislabeled

Oceana which is an international ocean advocacy group recently released a report based on national seafood fraud. The results of the report show that one nearly one-third of fish were mislabeled.

The Huffington Post reported that Oceana did DNA tests from 2010-2012 on over a thousand samples of fish from hundreds of retail outlets in 21 states.

The results showed that, "the United States is the second largest seafood-consuming country worldwide (China is number one), and more than 90 percent of the seafood consumed is imported. Less than 1 percent is tested specifically for fraud," reported The Huffington Post. "Red snapper and tuna had the highest mislabeling rate across the U.S., at 87 and 59 percent, respectively. Out of the 46 fish types tested, 27 were found to be mislabeled (59 percent). Only seven of the 120 red snapper samples were actually red snapper."

Beth Lowell who is campaign director for Oceana said to CNN that out of the 1215 samples that were tested, 401 were mislabled.

According to Oceana, the two most mislabeled fish were snapper as 33 different species of fish including perch, sea bream, rockfish, and tilapia. Also tuna was often mislabled and replaced with escolar which CNN reports is" often-banned snake mackerel that can cause mild to severe gastric distress to those who consume."

Atlantic cod was often mislabled as Pacific cod and grouper was mislabeled as at-risk species of fish including gulf grouper, king mackerel and speckled hind.

According to CNN sushi restaurants were the biggest place for mislabeling. "Out of 118 sushi venues visited, 95 percent sold fish that varied from their menu identification, including the previously mentioned snapper and tuna, as well as yellowtail/hamachi, which was incorrectly labeled in every case," reported CNN.

CNN reports it is hard to pinpoint who is responsible for the recent fraud. They reported that fishermen in the u.S. provide the information at the dock but it is difficult for consumers to track information from fisherman to when they eat the fish. 91 percent of seafood is also imported from other countries.

"The further a fish gets from its origins, sold in parts rather than whole, the more difficult it is to track to its eventual destination, leaving the supply chain wide open to human error and deliberate deception," reported CNN.

There are three federal agencies that play a role in detecting fraud in seafood and they are Customs and border Protection, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the FDA.