Re: Fish Fraud

gardenman · ‎03-09-2010

Fish mislabeling has gone on forever. In most cases, unless you're a fish geneticist, you'd never know. Many commercially prepared fish dishes have so much sauce/seasoning/breading that you can't tell what it is. Scallops are one of the most frequently mislabeled items.

As a long time fish keeper with some experience in aquaculture, I can assure you there are no waste filled ponds where fish are raised. Water quality is vital to keeping fish alive. If the level of ammonia, nitrites, or even nitrates gets too high, the fish start to die. Maintaining good water quality is vital to the success of their business. Unlike puppy mills, some cattle lots, etc. where the animals survive regardless of the conditions, fish die with relatively little in the way of stressors. The only way to keep fish alive is to keep them in good quality water.

We'll likely see more mislabeling coming in the near future as the next big farm raised fish is likely to be the pacu. This is a tropical fish that started out in the aquarium trade (like tilapia) but is now starting to be farmed. Unlike tilapia, pacus grow very large, very quickly (up to three feet long and fifty pounds in a one year) which means their flesh can be cut/shaped into pretty much any white fish out there by less scrupulous operators. The flavor is said to resemble striped bass, tilapia and rainbow trout and is superior to catfish. If you start seeing exceptionally large fillets of a favorite white fleshed fish on the market, chances are it's pacu.

In an odd quirk, if you really want the right type of fish when you shop, you're often better off buying the flash frozen fish that's processed right on the ships catching it. There's not a lot of room for mislabeling there. The ships are typically looking for one very specific type of fish and discard anything that's not it.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!