According to information published by the UN News Service, about 20% of the total volume of fish trade is the result of fraudulent activities.
This level significantly exceeds similar figures in the meat, fruit, and vegetable trading sectors, largely due to the diversity of fish and seafood species.
Today, stores and markets feature over 12,000 different species of fish and seafood, and fraudsters often exploit this for easy profit.
According to a new report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), fraud in fishing encompasses a range of deliberate actions aimed at misleading consumers. Here are some of the main methods:
- adulteration, where dyes are added to make tuna or salmon appear fresher;
- counterfeiting, such as creating "shrimp" from starch compounds;
- imitation, where fish paste is sold under the brand of "crab sticks";
- redirecting legally produced products to other markets;
- false positioning or labeling, where fraudsters mislead consumers about the sustainability, origin, or shelf life of products;
- species substitution, for example, when tilapia is sold as red snapper.
FAO emphasizes that such fraudulent schemes can pose risks to both human health and the ecology and economy as a whole.
It is evident that some fish species can be harmful to health when consumed raw, and refreezing seafood increases the risk of bacterial growth.
The organization notes that fishing fraud affects all continents and countries, from Latin America to Asia. In the United States, for example, up to one-third of all fish products are sold with misleading or incorrect information on the packaging, and only about 1% of such products undergo verification.
Restaurants are also not exempt from the problem, where up to 30% of products may have incorrect labeling.
In its report, FAO suggests taking measures to tighten labeling requirements for fish and seafood, including mandatory indication of scientific names, as well as improving monitoring systems.
Additionally, modern technologies, including nuclear methods in some cases, are recommended as quality control measures for fish products, including monitoring freezing and authenticity verification.
