A new study makes the case for tracking fish from ocean to plate in order to protect Americans from overspending hundreds of dollars each year on mislabeled fish.
Better tracking of fish would decrease the rates of “seafood fraud,” according to a report from the ocean conservation organization Oceana.
Fish go through a complex path from the time they are caught to when they land on dinner tables, and in that time lower-cost fish can be misidentified as more expensive species.
That can lead to hundreds of misspent dollars a year for consumers, the group found.
“Swapping a lower cost fish for a higher value one is like ordering a filet mignon and getting a hamburger instead,” said Margot Stiles, an Oceana senior scientist and author of the report.
For instance, an 8-ounce filet of tilapia can cost about $2.99 at the grocery store, but it is sometimes marketed as grouper, which can run about $7.00 for the same amount. Spread out over a year, that difference can add up to big expenditures.
To combat the high rates of poorly identified fish, the organization is supporting the SAFE Seafood Act, which would require that fishers make more of the information they have available about the fish they catch and empower agencies to crack down on fraud.