1 in every 5 fish we eat is a fraud

[Tanuki]

http://qz.com/775508/one-in-every-five-fish-we-eat-is-a-fraud/

"If you like to eat seafood, chances are you’ve been lied to—many, many times.

A new report (pdf) by environmental non-profit group Oceana has found that about one in five fish purchased in retail and restaurants is mislabeled, and in many cases the lie was intentional.

Oceana analyzed more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, as well as news reports, government documents, and non-profits reports. In all, it found 19% of the 25,700 global samples gleaned from the literature had been mislabeled.

....

“Across the world, our review reveals that seafood mislabeling appears to be motivated primarily by economic gain through intentionally misleading buyers at every level of the seafood supply chain,” the report states. “About 65% of the studies reviewed include clear evidence of economically-motivated adulteration of seafood products.”

The report comes ahead of a conference this month organized by US secretary of state John Kerry to discuss sustainable fishing, along with other ocean-related problems and policies."

[Major Nikon]

1. I was shocked to learn mountain oysters weren't really oysters

[In_The_Wind]

4. You mean they aren't.

Who knew

[Igel]

8. Bull! n/t

[JonathanRackham]

6. Down right funny.

[eleny]

28. aw, nuts!

[bluesbassman]

32. True dat, but a lamb fry is what it is.

[Eleanors38]

2. You have to watch what you perchase.

[Orrex]

3. :thumbsup:

[PJMcK]

5. And your spelling (big wink!) (n/t)

[Orrex]

7. She learned it in school.

[PJMcK]

9. In Republican, that's skool (n/t)

[Orrex]

12. I suspect that you're missing the finner points here.

But I'm not going to be the one to let you off the hook.

[DeadLetterOffice]

18. Maybe they're just angling for some laughs... N/t

[Codeine]

10. The scale of the fraud is amazing. nt

[Eleanors38]

17. Sue the basstids!

[Codeine]

20. I'm casting about for a new pun,

but I'm starting to flounder.

[TexasProgresive]

21. I'm looking for a new plaice.

[Eleanors38]

34. Above all, stay seine.

[Warpy]

11. The only fish seller I ever believed was a wholesaler

I'd go in there in my LL Bean boots and pick out whole fish (except for monkfish, they're so ugly they cut the heads off on the boat), then take them home and clean them myself. I also liked to get them whole for Chinese cooking and presentation. Fish heads also made for a tasty fish broth for use in chowders, paella, and a lot of other things.

There was one good fish market in Back Bay run by a Scotsman who admitted that once they were cleaned and filleted, any indication of particular species was long gone. So I'd look for dense white fish or oily red fish, fillets or steaks.

Funny, I was never much of a meat eater but I'll eat just about anything that swims. These days in land locked NM, it's the Costco frozen aisle for me. Frozen on a factory boat is the best I can do out here.

[Orrex]

13. If memory serves, there was one in Dublin, fair city.

So were her father and mother before.

[elleng]

16. Cockels and Mussels!

[underpants]

14. About a 1/3 of all US seafod ( ALL sushi) th Moonies One World Seafood

Great post Tanuki

[Orrex]

15. That's why I only eat fish four days in a row

[MFM008]

19. Sorry Charlie

.....

[NightWatcher]

22. If you order white tuna (or sometimes tuna belly) you're probably eating escolar

If you ever are sent running to the toilet after eating tuna sushi rolls, you've eaten the oily escolar.

Tread lightly my friends

[hunter]

23. And just as bad, it's often caught by slaves and wage slaves held prisoner on the boats.

It even happens in the U.S. fishing fleets.

Hawaiian seafood caught by foreign crews confined on boats

--snip--

A single yellowfin tuna can fetch more than $1,000, and vendors market the catch as "sustainable seafood produced by Hawaii's hard-working fishermen."

But workers such as Indonesian Syamsul Maarif aren't protected or compensated like locals. He was sent home to Indonesia after nearly dying when his boat sank 160 miles off Hawaii. He lost everything, and said it took four months to get his pay.

"We want the same standards as the other workers in America, but we are just small people working there based on the contract that we signed," he said. "We don't have any visa. We are illegal, so we cannot demand more."

Over six months, the AP obtained confidential contracts, reviewed dozens of business records and interviewed boat owners, brokers and more than 50 fishermen in Hawaii, Indonesia and San Francisco. The investigation found men living in squalor on some boats, forced to use buckets instead of toilets, suffering running sores from bed bugs and sometimes lacking sufficient food. It also revealed instances of human trafficking.

--more--

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/39ae05f117c64a929f0f8fab091c4ee1/hawaiian-seafood-caught-foreign-crews-confined-boats

Most of the world's fishing industry is rotten to the core. Many sorts of factory farm fish are equally suspect, grown in ways that severely damage the natural environment and packaged in dangerous abusive workplaces.

[roamer65]

24. I rarely eat fish anymore.

If it's from the Pacific, it has radioactive strontium and cesium.

If it's farmed fish it's loaded with fluoroquinolone antibiotics.

[Ilsa]

25. Same here. And if it's from the Gulf of Mexico,

I'm not ready to trust it.

I simply stopped buying seafood. Thought about buying a Geiger counter, though so I could resume eating a few things.

[womanofthehills]

35. I would not even want to swim in the Gulf of Mexico, let alone eat something that lives there

Also - seems like Fukushima will never stop leaking. Let alone the 3,600 55 gallon drums of radioactive waste dumped in the ocean off San Francisco from 1946 to 1970. (not the only place they were dumped). I stopped eating seafood - I don't even give my cats tuna. Although I've been in the west for yrs, I grew up near the ocean back east and really miss seafood. However, I live near a small lake stocked with trout fed by an underground stream, but I'm not good at catching fish.

I thought it would be nice to have a Geiger counter too as Amy Goodman once called NM the radioactive state and Suzanna Martinez wants to bring all the radioactive material she can find into this state now as her oil and gas money is dwindling.

[malaise]

26. We only buy fresh seafood

so no one fools us. If you buy seafood in supermarkets or eat seafood at restaurants you'll be fooled regularly.

[safeinOhio]

27. 90% of the fish I eat,

I catch, clean, cook and eat.

For the most part, store bought is a big disappointment.

[DinahMoeHum]

29. I prefer shellfish and crustaceans for seafood.

Too much fraud going on with fin fish.
If/when I do eat it, I'm in Florida (mostly Key West) where chances are much better the fish were swimming in those waters just a few hours before.

[JonathanRackham]

30. Faux fish flash fried frivelously Friday frequently.

[GulfCoast66]

31. I know just what I am eating

since 95% of the time I have caught, cleaned and cooked it myself. It means I eat limited species. Spotted Seatrout(really a Drum), Redfish, Flounder, Spanish Mackerel, Snapper(Mangrove, not Red), Sheepshead and an occasional other one like black drum or porgy. But the key to fish being good is freshness and not overcooking them.

I also have crab traps and occasionally cast net for shrimp. And a hint for buying shrimp if you live near the coast. Always buy head on if you can. The first thing that happens when a shrimp ages is the head starts to fall off. The shrimp is still total edible and can be quite good. But if you get shrimp with the head on it is guaranteed local and fresh. And the head is pretty good to eat or at least suck out as well, just like crawfish.

I have got to get to bed! Have a nice night.

[Divine Discontent]

33. ah, Fresh Food! Nice! good night! :)