Graphic detail | Daily chart

Seafood substitutions are increasing

Restaurants can be fishy businesses

By THE DATA TEAM

“SEAFOOD fraud is a serious global problem”, begins a recent report from Oceana, an NGO. Reviewing over 200 studies in 55 countries, the report finds that one in five fish sold has been mislabelled. Although fish fraud is common early in the supply chain, most of it comes at the retail level.

In 65% of cases, the motivation is economic—slippery restaurateurs frequently serve up cheaper fish than they advertise to cut costs. In America, Oceana has reported instances of tilapia being sold as the more expensive red snapper. Especially brazen fish criminals have invented new types of fish entirely. In Brazil, researchers were puzzled to find markets selling “douradinha”, a non-existent species. Close inspection found that 60% of such fish were actually “vulture” catfish, a relatively undesirable dish. Reports in America of catfish being substituted for more expensive fish date back to at least 2002; Oceana’s study suggests that the phenomenon is spreading.

Seafood shenanigans are not always innocuous. Sometimes fish sold fraudulently belong to endangered species, while other times they may carry undisclosed health risks such as high amounts of mercury. Indeed, studies of sushi restaurants in America have found over 50 cases where fish labelled as white tuna has actually been escolar, a succulent buttery fish known to cause explosive diarrhoea. One answer may be regulation: rates of mislabelling seafood in Europe have gone down from 23% in the 2000s to around 8% last year, thanks largely to new EU regulations designed to increase transparency and traceability. Retailers are now required to disclose data on the commercial and scientific names of most fish sold, whether they were caught or farmed and where they came from. Until the issue is further resolved however, caution is to be advised.

Discover more

Three reasons why oil prices are remarkably stable

Can it last?

Why America is a “flawed democracy”

EIU’s index plots the country’s democratic decline since 2006


Five charts compare Democrats and Republicans on job creation

Our analysis of the past eight American presidents