Canada must counter rampant seafood fraud
That white tuna roll you just ordered might actually be escolar, the “laxative of the sea.” There is increasing consumer demand for farm-to-fork supply chain and labelling transparency; however, when it comes to seafood and our oceans, “boat-to-plate” transparency is virtually nonexistent. This hurts our health, wallets and oceans.
This past summer, Oceana Canada conducted seafood testing in Ottawa, collecting samples from popular grocery stores and restaurants and used DNA testing to compare the labels to the true identity of the fish.
Nearly half of the samples — 45 of 98 — were mislabelled, as they did not meet Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) labelling requirements. A whopping 68 per cent of the sushi tested was mislabelled. Further, one-third — 33 samples — were considered species substitution, meaning the fish on the label or menu did not match the species being purchased.
Some of the more alarming instances of species substitution included harmful escolar, “the laxative of the sea,” being sold as white tuna; farmed Asian catfish sold as sole; and various types of tilapia sold as snapper. In fact, none of the nine samples labelled as red snapper was actually red snapper.
Nearly half of the samples tested were mislabelled.
Evidence from multiple studies over many years shows that seafood fraud is rampant globally. Clearly Canada is no exception. Consumers are given little information about the seafood they eat, and the information that they are provided is often misleading or fraudulent. It’s no surprise, then, that nearly half of us — 47 per cent — feel we do not have enough information about the fish we purchase from stores and restaurants.
More than 60 per cent of Canadians are concerned about food fraud and more than 40 per cent believe they have bought a counterfeit food product at some point, with seafood as the top-selected category where fraud was experienced.
When one species of fish is substituted for another, or when correct information is not provided, consumers risk exposure to parasites, allergens, contaminants, aquaculture drugs and pesticides used in industrial farming operations. Seafood fraud also hurts honest Canadian businesses who play by the rules by creating an unfair marketplace, undercutting prices and causing industry-wide reputational damage. It even masks global human rights abuses, such as slavery and human trafficking, by creating a market for illegally caught fish.
Further, it harms our oceans by making it difficult for consumers, including chefs and seafood companies, to purchase sustainable products and by altering perceptions of the true availability of seafood and of the state of our marine environment. Despite our best intentions, we could be contributing to depleting a renewable resource upon which more than a billion people rely as a source of protein.
The world’s population is predicted to reach nine billion by 2050. When managed responsibly, seafood is a sustainable resource that requires minimal fresh water to produce, emits little carbon dioxide and does not use arable land. We have the incredible opportunity — and responsibility — to restore our oceans to abundance before it’s too late.
Canada must implement a system that documents and traces seafood from boat to plate. We currently lag behind the European Union and the United States, both of which have robust traceability standards. Full-chain traceability, paired with comprehensive consumer labelling, can help our oceans, our wallets and our health while restoring consumer confidence in the seafood industry.