In these times, consumers are giving careful consideration to the kind of fish they purchase. In any case, regardless of the possibility that you're attempting to make the best decision, another study has affirmed that what you pay for isn't as a matter of course what you get.
An environmental organization, Oceana that works to protect and restore the world's oceans released a new study which reveals mislabeling of America's favorite fish - salmon. If you were to compare a wild salmon to a farmed-raised one, it might not be easy to tell the difference among the two simply because they could look precisely the same. Oceana gathered 82 samples of salmon from restaurants and grocery stores in Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York and Virginia and found that 43 percent were somehow labeled incorrectly. A DNA investigation confirmed that mislabeling which covered 69 percent of the product consisted of farmed Atlantic salmon being sold as wild-caught.
"When consumers opt for wild-caught U.S. salmon, they don't expect to get a farmed or lower-value product of questionable origins," said Beth Lowell, senior campaign director at Oceana. "This type of seafood fraud can have serious ecological and economic consequences. Not only are consumers getting ripped off, but responsible U.S. fishermen are being cheated when fraudulent products lower the price for their hard-won catch.
Mislabeling in different cases included examples that were marked as a particular kind of salmon, similar to Chinook, however DNA testing uncovered them to be -"lower-value fish."
The results of the research gathered by Oceana amid the winter of 2013-2014 contrast significantly from the associations of the past investigation of wild caught salmon in 2012 with only 7 percent of salmon was falsely marked throughout the " plentiful fishing season."
Dr. Kimberly Warner, senior scientist at Oceana and one of the writers of the study told USA Today to eat your salmon in season. Wild salmon is generally in season from May through September. "Time of year makes such a big difference on whether salmon mislabeling is high or low", she added.
Warner also stated that while U.S. fishermen get enough salmon to fulfill 80 percent of our domestic demand, 70 percent of the catch is then exported rather than going straight to American markets. Most wild caught fish is prepared abroad where labor is less expensive. It is for the people to guess how much these wild domestic salmon makes it way to the US market.
The government is urged by Oceana to enforce more noteworthy regulation on the seafood business with regards to naming practices, and additionally traceability of commercial exchange, so consumers can settle on educated choices.
