Americans happen to be shocked recently to discover that in many cases, meals at even excellent restaurants could have counterfeit seafood. This story first arose in 2004 once the periodical Nature reported on cases of fish in restaurants being marketed as red snapper whilst the meals were actually a variety of fish. Some months later The Brand New York Times reported on cases of farm raised fish being intentionally mislabeled as wild salmon. Media over the USA along with other countries did independent tests and located case after case of fish defined as red snapper, salmon and also other preferred species to be anything but the genuine product. An investigation by Florida’s St. Petersburg Times published in August 2006 found substituted fish to actually be catfish, Pollock, hake, tilapia as well as others.

The highly respected magazine Consumer Reports did testing and located rampant cases of salmon misrepresentation. This typically involves farm raised salmon being offered as wild caught fish. The issue is worldwide. For instance, wild salmon sold in Britain have proved to be farmed. In a single case tests demonstrated that about 10% from the wild salmon samples were actually farmed fish.

Substitution and miss-labeling will not be confined to Seafood Box. Other seafood items including lobster have problems with similar controversies. One organization which has been vocal about lobster may be the Maine Lobster Promotion Council. Seafood defined as lobster are occasionally actually a crustacean called langoustine. The Maine Lobster Promotion Council and other organizations are quick to indicate that lower quality, frozen import products can hurt the trustworthiness of the premium American lobster when consumers see lobster around the menu and associate a mediocre meal together with the image of a whole new American lobster product.

While quality seafood suppliers may offer several of the products fresh, consumers find a variety of products to become market simply as shrimp. Nearly all shrimp sold in the United States are imported farm raised product. Obviously appearance, freshness, taste and health factors may differ between fresh local shrimp plus a processed product of unknown origin, makeup and age.

As a consumer, how can we get whatever we pay for and expect? Most of problem dates back to reputation and as a smart shopper. A respected market or restaurant may be able to verify that the seafood it sells is in fact what exactly it is defined as. Many restaurant owners are familiar with counterfeit seafood products and possess improved quality control in their buying practices. Consumers can improve their probability of getting quality seafood by learning to identify and judge seafood.