DNA testing carried out over a few years, by ocean conservation organization Oceana, has revealed that 59% of fish labeled tuna available through U.S. restaurants and grocery stores in not tuna at all, but other kinds of fish instead.
In addition, a massive 87% of DNA-tested fish labeled snapper is not snapper, Michael Graham Richard has reported. A mere 7 samples of the 120 red snapper samples bought were what they claimed to be. The rest were other types of fish.
Oceana bought and tested 1200 seafood samples from 674 retail outlets in 21 states. Overall, they found an astonishing 33% were mislabeled. In sushi outlets (the smallest portion of the market), 74% of samples were not labeled correctly. In grocery stores (the largest portion of the market), 18% of seafood was mislabeled, and a much larger 38% in restaurants.
Sadly, all this seems to prove that even if you go out of your way to pick a certain kind of fish, say a more sustainable variety, you may not get what you expect. In any case, something certainly needs to be done about this mass-mislabeling of fish. How do you think this could best be done?