Fish fraud
Technology and regulatory improvements are needed to reduce fraud and unsustainable practices in seafood value chains. Commercial transparency is critical to food safety and consumer confidence, yet, complex supply chains make it difficult to identify the origin and history of many seafood products.
Traceability – knowing where products originate and how they are produced – has been a growing priority for consumers in recent years. With seafood, for example, market studies suggest that more consumers are willing to pay higher prices for certified, locally sourced and sustainably caught fish and shellfish.
But keeping track of where and how fish have been caught is difficult, with fish fillets, or even whole fish, looking identical despite having different origins and different catch methods. The problem is exacerbated by deliberate or accidental mislabelling, and when fish supply chains are long and convoluted – for example, when fish are brought from remote villages to city marketplaces – knowing where a fish has come from may be virtually impossible. In response, seafood certification programmes around the world are investing in a number of initiatives to support improved monitoring of fish catch and marketing chains.
Technologies, such as the development of small, solar-powered transponders that monitor the time and location of fish catches, are one way forward. And in early 2016, the USA proposed an international rule to restrict imports of fish species that are vulnerable to fraud and mislabelling. Finance to strengthen existing systems will be crucial, and the USA has taken a lead, announcing new funding to support improved monitoring in a number of countries, including Indonesia and Vietnam.
