Revealed: seafood fraud happening on a vast global scale

[Katie Meadow]

On 3/30/2021 at 9:03 AM, liuzhou said:

and it continues.

 

Canada declares fish fraud crackdown but leaves out restaurants

 

Restaurants are the easiest to befuddle consumers. How often do you actually see the whole fish in a restaurant before you see the actual dish? - even if you could 100% certainly identify it.
 

Seeing a whole fish wouldn't help me in most cases. Maybe if it was a tuna or a trout. 

[AlaMoi]

this is my fishmonger's shop . . . one learns quickly . . .

 

Edited July 29, 2021 by AlaMoi (log)

[kayb]

Damn. How I'd love to find grouper for $9.49 a pound. Or even find grouper, period. Are you on the Gulf coast?

 

[AlaMoi]

no - mid-Atlantic, inland!

 

this is a family business, started 2 generations back in Florida.  they've branched out as marriages added to the geography - they're able to use their sources for 'a wide supply' and ship it themselves.....

 

[johnnyd]

Guys are pulling 400lb bluefin tuna off-shore everyday in Maine this Summer. I just came back from the fishmonger who cut a 1lb slab from a huge loin brought in yesterday. It's part of the reason I moved here.

 

[Katie Meadow]

4 hours ago, johnnyd said:

Guys are pulling 400lb bluefin tuna off-shore everyday in Maine this Summer. I just came back from the fishmonger who cut a 1lb slab from a huge loin brought in yesterday. It's part of the reason I moved here.

 

You moved so you could eat more of an endangered species? I'm not trying to be catty here, but as far as I know Atlantic Bluefin has been on the critically endangered list for the last ten years. I know there are limits on the catch, etc, but can you clarify the status of Atlantic bluefin (or all bluefin)? There are very few restaurants or shops that sell bluefin here on the west coast, and I've always been encouraged to avoid it. I do know that Pacific bluefin is a different species, but they are overfished as well. The Monterey Bay Aquarium seafood watch still has both Atlantic and Pacific bluefin on their Avoid List. This is all about the ecological impact. There is also a lot of corruption in commercial fishing, since these fish can command sky high prices. 

 

And then there's this:

"This summer’s amazing story about a record, 873-pound bluefin tuna caught off the coast of Delaware by a recreational angler took an unfortunate twist Tuesday, when international ocean conservation group Oceana reported that toxic mercury in its flesh tested at 2.5 parts per million, making it two and a half times higher than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Action Level for commercial fish. This amount is also nearly twice the highest level of mercury ever found by the FDA in any fresh or frozen tuna steaks." 

 

So, stay healthy. Yes, I have no doubt it is delicious. 

 

 

[curls]

6 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

no - mid-Atlantic, inland!

 

this is a family business, started 2 generations back in Florida.  they've branched out as marriages added to the geography - they're able to use their sources for 'a wide supply' and ship it themselves.....

 

Mid Atlantic! How far from Washington DC? I would love to have a good fish monger.

[liuzhou]

On 7/30/2021 at 2:47 AM, AlaMoi said:

this is my fishmonger's shop . . . one learns quickly . . .

 

Only if those fish are accurately labelled. The problem is that often the labels are wrong!

[AlaMoi]

".....the labels are wrong! "

 

I've done enough fishing to recognize when the label does not match the fish.

 

this is a flounder.  if one does not consider this to possibly be a flounder, they should avoid eating fish.

Edited July 30, 2021 by AlaMoi (log)

[AlaMoi]

@curls - York PA - about two hrs north of upper DC - they do offer iced bagged....

[Margaret Pilgrim]

6 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

You moved so you could eat more of an endangered species? I'm not trying to be catty here, but as far as I know Atlantic Bluefin has been on the critically endangered list for the last ten years. I know there are limits on the catch, etc, but can you clarify the status of Atlantic bluefin (or all bluefin)? There are very few restaurants or shops that sell bluefin here on the west coast, and I've always been encouraged to avoid it. I do know that Pacific bluefin is a different species, but they are overfished as well. The Monterey Bay Aquarium seafood watch still has both Atlantic and Pacific bluefin on their Avoid List. This is all about the ecological impact. There is also a lot of corruption in commercial fishing, since these fish can command sky high prices. 

 

And then there's this:

"This summer’s amazing story about a record, 873-pound bluefin tuna caught off the coast of Delaware by a recreational angler took an unfortunate twist Tuesday, when international ocean conservation group Oceana reported that toxic mercury in its flesh tested at 2.5 parts per million, making it two and a half times higher than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Action Level for commercial fish. This amount is also nearly twice the highest level of mercury ever found by the FDA in any fresh or frozen tuna steaks." 

 

So, stay healthy. Yes, I have no doubt it is delicious. 

 

 

A good rule of thumb, the larger the fish the greater the concentration of heavy metal, mercury and friends.   

[farcego]

21 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

".....the labels are wrong! "

 

I've done enough fishing to recognize when the label does not match the fish.

 

this is a flounder.  if one does not consider this to possibly be a flounder, they should avoid eating fish.

 

That would actually end the problems of overfishing, as most people eat fish without knowing to id the species they are eating, and too often, already deboned, skinned etc.... they buy a long piece of seafood with a name

 

But seriously, even if someone cannot id what is buying, or even recognize the taste (it may be his/her first trial, or just to pretend), that cannot justify the fraud.

 

 

[johnnyd]

On 7/30/2021 at 3:56 PM, Katie Meadow said:

You moved so you could eat more of an endangered species? I'm not trying to be catty here, but as far as I know Atlantic Bluefin has been on the critically endangered list for the last ten years. I know there are limits on the catch, etc, but can you clarify the status of Atlantic bluefin (or all bluefin)? There are very few restaurants or shops that sell bluefin here on the west coast, and I've always been encouraged to avoid it. I do know that Pacific bluefin is a different species, but they are overfished as well. The Monterey Bay Aquarium seafood watch still has both Atlantic and Pacific bluefin on their Avoid List. This is all about the ecological impact. There is also a lot of corruption in commercial fishing, since these fish can command sky high prices. 

 

And then there's this:

"This summer’s amazing story about a record, 873-pound bluefin tuna caught off the coast of Delaware by a recreational angler took an unfortunate twist Tuesday, when international ocean conservation group Oceana reported that toxic mercury in its flesh tested at 2.5 parts per million, making it two and a half times higher than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Action Level for commercial fish. This amount is also nearly twice the highest level of mercury ever found by the FDA in any fresh or frozen tuna steaks." 

 

So, stay healthy. Yes, I have no doubt it is delicious. 

 

 

Katie. You are indeed trying to be catty. You automatically surmise that I - a person you know little about - has aimed to, and executed a life-decision to commit ecological crimes by moving to a place that harvests ocean species for the purpose of personally consuming them. I almost didn't dignify your post with a response because you are clearly committed to a pre-loaded judgement of what constitutes politically "correct "and morally "responsible" behaviour towards the planets' animal species. Is that wrong? Of course not, but you are accusing me of reprehensible behaviour in a public forum, and clearly without bothering to research your accusations. In short, because I posted a picture you thought was offensive, I must be offensive too, right?

 

In fact, NOAA removed North Atlantic Blue Fin Tuna from the endangered species list in 2011. The Mediterranean biomass is not seeing the rebound in Blue Fin biomass so their harvest is much more restricted. Licenses for commercial harvest of Blue Fin Tuna were allowed to increase this year and last as the most recent stock assessment showed a rebound. Without cluttering up the OP's thread I'll encourage you to look into the facts at your own pace. Start with a simple Wikipedia search.

 

I moved to Maine to become a commercial fisherman. We used SCUBA to harvest sea urchin which we sent overnight to Tokyo's Tsukiji Market. I spent seven Maine Winters in a dry-suit and wool sweaters. Before that I spent five years BOH in Vermont restaurants. I made it my business to know all about where food is going and where it's coming from. I understand it's fashionable to swipe at commercial interests and flows but guess what? Commercial interests will still flow after you and I are on the wrong side of the grass. You can hold up as many signs and go to as many protest marches as you want but if you don't learn to help change the way things are exploited and deployed from within it's circuitry you're just blowing smoke.